


The Black Pieces

by Lynn_Forster



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Grishaverse Big Bang 2020, Human Experimentation, M/M, Mad Scientists, Next Generation, Post-Book 2: Crooked Kingdom, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Twenty Years Later, Where Kaz has to look after a group of teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 38,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26342905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynn_Forster/pseuds/Lynn_Forster
Summary: Twenty-one years after Crooked Kingdom events, people start to disappear in Ketterdam. Kaz understands the fault is in Igor Valaky, a mad scientist escaped from Ravka, and he contacts Nikolai.The Ravkan king persuades Dirtyhands and King Steffen of Fjerda to form a team of eight skilled teenagers to help them with Valaky’s capture.The young team is called “The Black Pieces” and each of the members represents one of the main chess pieces: a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights and two rooks.
Relationships: Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck, Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa, Matthias Helvar/Nina Zenik
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35
Collections: Grishaverse Big Bang 2020





	1. ANIKA

A single, dull, bell toll echoed throughout the sleeping city.

Anika walked along the poorly illuminated streets of the Barrel, with a black jacket that shielded her tiny body from the fresh, night air, a couple of guns fastened to her leather belt and a sharp knife hidden in the right boot. 

It had been a good day, at the Crows Club, that had kept her busy from early morning, but also gave her great satisfaction. That was her world, a harsh, sometimes cruel, but always homely kingdom and she was born to be the Hand of the king, his loyal and capable second in command.

Not the queen, she thought. The queen, the one who had kept the king’s heart in her hands for over two decades, fought her battles elsewhere, for the majority of the year. And when she came back to the city, she was always torn between the calls of two kings: the beloved criminal and the sea.

The latter always won.

Sometimes, Anika wondered how it was, how they felt. She could barely imagine living parted from Fannie, her lovely Fannie, who always waited for her awake, in their apartment near Fifth Harbour. 

She left the Barrel behind, taking a quiet, almost deserted road. There was a single human being there, apart from her, a pretty girl around twenty, with long, wavy, chestnut brown hair which almost reached her waist. She was closing the door of a small pub.

Anika gave her a small, polite nod, when she walked by her: she had already met that girl before, more than once. She was a young immigrant from the Wandering Island, who worked in a floral shop and, sometimes, earned extra money serving as a waitress in the pub.

_I should buy some flowers for Fannie, tomorrow,_ Anika thought, her low heels ticking on the pebbles of the small street. _White and blue flowers. Her favourites._

She had almost reached the end of the street, when a loud shriek broke the silence of the night, making her turn around, a hand on her right gun: the girl was struggling against two persons, a man and a woman, both wearing the typical _kefta_ from two different Grisha orders. The woman was a Squaller, the man a Fabrikator.

_What’s happening?,_ Anika thought, catching her gun and aiming at them. _Why are they trying to kidnap that girl?_

She knew she had no chance against two Grisha, but she could count on the element of surprise, since they hadn’t seen her.

“Let me go, please!” the girl screamed. “What do you want from me?”

The Squaller said something to her companion, in Ravkan, then, she covered the girl’s mouth with a hand, while the Fabrikator used his powers to animate a thick rope, that wrapped her body like the coils of a snake.

Anika narrowed her eyes, then, she pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot was immediately followed by a male scream: the Fabrikator collapsed to the ground, clenching his left leg, while the Squaller turned her head to their attacker, giving her a killer glance.

“Let her go!” Anika ordered, aiming at the woman’s arm and shooting again. Even though he was injured, the Fabrikator moved his hand so quickly she didn’t even notice it.

A sudden, piercing pain exploded into Anika’s right shoulder, making her scream and lose the grip on her gun. 

The woman knelt to the ground, almost breathless, her left hand clutching the wounded shoulder, where her own bullet, sent back by the man’s magic, had sunk.

Her eyes went wet, while she raised her glance to check the situation, and thanks to the male Grisha’s distraction, the girl had been able to free herself from the rope and, led by desperation and survival instinct, she hit the Squaller’s cheekbone with her elbow.

With the left hand, Anika grabbed the gun she had let fall and tried to stand up.

“Help me!” the girl cried, running towards her. “Please, help me!”

The Dregs’ deputy chief trudged ahead, stretching her trembling right arm. The pain was almost unbearable, but she needed her left hand ready to shoot again.

“Qu-quicker…” she panted. “T-take my hand…”

They almost did it. They went so close that Anika felt the warmth of the girl’s fingertips on hers. Then, the snake-like rope flew towards its young victim, catching her right leg.

The flower girl was suddenly thrown up into the air, hanged upside down, screaming and fidgeting, her long, soft hair fell down to her face, like a reddish-brown curtain.

“No!” Anika yelled, aiming at the kidnappers again.

The Squaller raised her hands and a strong, howling wind travelled along the street, reaching the Dreg lady and hurling her behind, making her crash against the shop window of a furniture store.

The glass broke and Anika hit a huge, exposed wardrobe with the injured shoulder.

The intense pain almost took her breath away, then, everything went black.

She woke up some minutes after, when someone tapped her forehead and cheeks with a wet, cold handkerchief. Pim’s worried face was bending over her.

“Anika!” he whispered. “Anika, can you hear me?”

The woman moaned, grabbing his wrist with the left hand. She could taste a bloody flavour into her mouth.

“Pim…” she murmured, coughing. “Wh-where’s the girl?”

Her comrade frowned, making her heart sink.

“What girl?”


	2. KLAUS

The rising sun painted the sea tides with a tinted warmth, an enchanting palette that shaded from pale gold to bright red.

Leaning on the wooden railing, Klaus felt like the ship was sailing on liquid fire and, somehow, it gave him a lovely sense of peace and quietness.

He hadn’t slept well that night. Well, he had almost never slept well in sixteen years, his many, many sleepless nights had carved dark eye-bags under his heterochromatic eyes, like an everlasting mark, but that night, in particular, had been extremely tough to handle.

The rotten, swollen face over him, the voice pleading to dock, to stay away from the sea... and then, that terrifying sensation, cold water around him, his lungs burning, a salty flavour in his mouth...

_“Please, Klaus, the sea is dangerous! Stay away from it! Look at me! Look what the sea has done to me! Feel what it has done to me!”_

Ghosts were usually more active at night. Their voices were vivid, their stories easily involved him. 

Klaus sighed, raising his glance to the pink and orange sky. A gentle, smoky touch on his cheek was soon followed by a whisper to his ear.

_“I’ve always loved dawns and sunsets.”_

The boy smiled, turning his head to the feminine, ghostly figure who stood by his side, “I know, Emilie. Especially…”

_“The ones by the sea,”_ the ghost continued. She was a pretty girl, in her mid twenties, with long, black curls. She wore a graceful wedding dress and she held an old lantern, perpetually lit, in her right hand. 

_“I’m sorry,”_ she said, suddenly. _“I tried to keep that spirit away, tonight... I told him you needed to sleep...”_

“His fear made his essence stronger,” the young Grisha replied. “His trauma... his last memories... it’s not your fault, Em.”

“Another sleepless night, Klaus?”

The boy turned, a little smile on his face, while the bride ghost faded away. “I should be used to this, by now.”

Two young people, a boy and a girl, approached him: they were both much taller than average, but they looked small compared to him.

The boy leaned on the railing, by his side, while the girl placed a hand on his huge, muscular shoulder. “You should call me when it happens, little brother, you know.”

“I would wake you up almost every night, then,” Klaus replied, hugging his older sister and kissing her forehead. “More than once, Aeny. They are stronger, during the night. Especially when they’re frightened or angry.”

“Ghosts should take some self-control lessons,” Ben, the young man, said. “Isn’t there someone who teaches them stuff like this? Like, an afterlife business of self-control teachers?”

Klaus and Aenya let a small laugh out.

“I don’t think it could work, Ben,” the blonde boy replied, parting from his sister’s embrace. “Most of the spirits are made of feelings that have accompanied them during their human life, in particular, their last feelings. It’s like... a part of their entire essence.”

“That means, when I become a ghost, I would be made of charm, nice humour, and a pinch of bitterness.” 

He smiled ironically. He was a handsome, eighteen-year-old Squaller, with reddish-brown hair and bright blue eyes. Klaus smiled back, cupping his friend’s bearded cheeks with his large hands. “Ben, please, you know I don’t like when you talk of yourself as a ghost.”

“All of us will be ghosts, someday,” the Squaller winked.

“Yes, we will,” Aenya replied, raising her right hand and moving her fingers. “But I’ll try my best to make this happen in a very far future.”

“We’re lucky to have one of the best Heartrenders in the world with us,” Klaus said, placing his hands back on the wooden railing. “Do you think... this mission will be very dangerous?”

Aenya and Ben exchanged a quick glance.

“Well... Uncle Kaz has accepted extra help,” the Heartrender said. “And if Kaz Brekker needs help, things must not be easy. Igor Valaky caused lots of troubles in the past. He almost killed Nikolai before his capture, ten years ago…”

“It’s absurd, isn’t it?” Ben mumbled. “A powerless human who supports extremist beliefs in Grisha supremacy... not to mention the atrocities he committed to support this cause... all the experiments on human beings…” 

Klaus shivered: “What was he trying to do to those poor people? What is he trying to do now?”

“Who knows?” Aenya sighed. “Valaky has kept all his secrets for himself. He never told anyone, not even his minions, what he was planning to do and no one has been able to find his secret laboratory, in Ravka.”

“And now, no one can find him in Ketterdam. He hasn’t lost his passion for hide-and-seek.”

Ben started drawing small circles into the air, creating a tiny, horizontal reel. He was used to playing with air when dark thoughts filled his mind. 

“We’ll make it,” Klaus said, finally. “Nikolai believes in us. And, since he accepted to work with our team, I’m sure Uncle Kaz feels good about us, too. He would never waste his time with a project he doesn’t believe in.”

“You’re probably right,” Aenya smiled, looking at the horizon. Her eyes had the same colour of Fjerdan ice; a long, dark braid fell over her left shoulder.

“I wonder what he is doing now,” she added. “Uncle Kaz. I bet he’s already awake, like us.”

Klaus’ lips curved into a cunning grin. “Well... we can take a look…”

  
  
  


Ben’s cabin was almost completely dark, a perfect environment to take Klaus’ experiment.

The boy blinked, trying to get his eyes used to the darkness: he could barely spot two beds, placed on opposite sides of the small room.

The bed on the right wall was empty and unmade; onto the other one, there was a figure wrapped in blankets, a figure that let a confused moan out.

“Mmmh... Ben?” a male, sleepy voice murmured. “Time to get up?”

The Squaller giggled, sitting on his boyfriend’s bed: “No, _Dree-Dree_. It’s only six o’clock. I brought Aeny and Klaus here to spy on Kaz Brekker.”

Adrien Sahin grunted, bringing an arm out of the blankets and hitting Ben’s knee twice, with an open hand. “Don’t call me like that. You know I hate it.”

“That’s why it’s so funny,” the Ravkan smiled, rubbing the other boy’s dark locks. “And you’re so pretty when you’re annoyed, _Dree-Dree.”_

“Ben,” Aenya reprimanded him, a smirk on her lips. “Don’t disturb him, let him sleep.”

“He’s apparently the only one who’s able to do that, this morning.” the Squaller replied. “He and your parents.”

“Mum would probably sleep until noon, if no one wakes her up,” Klaus said, sitting on Ben’s bed. “Can I lay here for our little spy mission?”

“Suit yourself, dear. Do you need something to cover your eyes?”

“Yes, please.”

The room was dark enough, but Klaus knew he had to be completely isolated to succeed. Ben gave him a silk scarf, helping him fix it around the upper part of his head, then, the young necromancer laid down on his back and started to relax his muscles and take slow, deep breaths.

Aenya sat next to him and took one of his large hands in hers. He needed her to be there.

Even though the ability he was going to use represented the only non-traumatic part of his powers, he was going to spend much energy and he needed his vitals checked during the entire process.

He let his mind float into a quiet darkness, slowly parting it from the heavy bounds of his massive body.

Smoky, black billows led him to a familiar, thin veil: he stretched his hand ahead, the one Aenya wasn’t holding, and touched it, feeling a gentle prickle on his fingers. 

The veil bended and swayed; Klaus could see a silver, thick fog behind it, ghostly voices reached his ears and his mind.  
  
“It’s me,” he murmured. “Klaus. I need one of you now. Ismael, can you hear me?”

The veil suddenly stilled: behind it, a slouching, human figure approached rapidly. He was a Kaelish man of average height, in his mid forties; he wore typical pirate clothes, with a large black, hat that covered his salt and pepper hair, and a black eye-patch on his missing right eye.

Like Emilie, Ismael was one of his oldest ghostly friends, who had been watching over him since he was a toddler.

_“Hello, sonny,”_ he said, walking through the veil and stopping in front of the young grisha. _“It’s been a while.”_

“Actually,” Klaus corrected him, smiling. “We met yesterday, before lunchtime. You and Emilie went through the veil by yourself, to complain about your new companion…”

_“Oh, you’re right, that old hag!”_ the pirate grunted. _“Hope she never figures out how to enter the world of living beings, or she’ll drive you mad, I swear.”_

“Maybe she just needs some help,” the boy suggested.

Ismael Morgan, captain of the infamous pirate ship _The Sea Demon_ , shook his head, _“You trust people and spirits too easily, sonny. By the way, why do you call me?”_

Klaus smiled, clearing his throat, “Could you go on a spy mission for me? I would like to see what Kaz Brekker is doing now.”

_“A small preview of the situation in Ketterdam, then,”_ Ismael commented. _“Aye, it will be a pleasure. Give me a few moments, my boy, I’ll be there before you could say ‘Sea Demon’ thrice.”_

Darkness surrounded Klaus’ mind again. The boy took advantage of the short break to regain a small bond with his body, giving Aenya’s hand a gentle squeeze to warn and reassure her. Finally, the best part of his ability began: darkness vanished, throwing his mind into a new, familiar reality.

He found himself in a familiar bedroom, furnished with antiques; an huge, old carpet in dark tones covered almost the entire floor.

There was a man there, bent over a pile of documents on a large, wooden desk. He was pale and lean, in his late thirties; he had short black hair and sharp features and he was wearing a black, elegant nightgown. Against his chair, a long cane, with a raven head shaped handle.

It was him. Kaz Brekker, Dirtyhands, the Criminal King. Uncle Kaz.

_“Here we are, sonny.”_

Ismael’s voice echoed into his mind. In that moment, Klaus and the ghost were wholly bound to each other, the young grisha could see and feel through the pirate’s ghostly senses.

Giving his spirits some extra energy, Klaus could also use that ability to communicate with people, covering long distances, but, in that moment, he didn’t want Kaz to notice Ismael’s presence.

“Be careful,” he told him. He knew his lips were barely moving, in that moment, and Aenya and Ben couldn’t hear any sound. All his words came from inside, going straight to the ghost’s mind.

“Can you approach him?”

_“Aye.”_

Ismael floated toward the leader of the Dregs, leaning over his desk. He took a quick glance on the documents he was reading, snorting inside.

_“Calculations. Mostly calculations. I have never liked Maths.”_

“Isn’t there anything about our mission?’ Klaus asked. “Like... notes, or…”

The ghost pirate checked, _“I don’t think, my boy. If any, they’re all about Brekker’s business.”_

“Don’t worry. Well, I think you can…” 

Before the boy could finish the sentence, Kaz raised his head from his documents and sighed. He stretched his hand, his bare hand, to grab a small, round portrait he kept on the right corner of the desk.

He stared at it, silently, adoring the face of a Suli woman painted on it. The person who drew her did an exquisite job: he had been able to catch the wise and determined light in the woman’s dark eyes, he represented perfectly the bronze tone of her skin and her black, long, braided hair.

Klaus smiled. He hadn’t seen Aunt Inej in over three months and he missed her. He could only imagine how Kaz felt at that moment.

The man’s fingers ran gently over the golden round frame, a pensive smile on his lips, then, he placed the portrait back on the desk and he brought his right hand to his neck. His fingers briefly disappeared into the collar of his night vest.

He caught the small, knife-shaped pendant of his silver necklace, bringing it to his lips and closing his dark eyes.

_“How long is it, since their last meeting?”_

Klaus immediately felt guilty and ashamed, “Almost six months…”

He didn’t mean to catch Kaz during such an intimate moment. He thought he would have seen his uncle checking his business, planning some tricks to defeat his opponents or studying the situation they were going to face.

Part of Dirtyhands’ heart spent most of the year on the sea, far from him, and he was probably counting the days left before he could see her again.

_“Oh, sonny,”_ Ismael whispered inaudibly, feeling the necromancer’s emotions. _“Don’t feel so bad, you couldn’t imagine that...”_

“What the…”

Both Klaus and the pirate winced. Kaz shivered, touching the back of his own neck, and he started looking around with a suspicious glance.

“The room temperature!” Klaus murmured. “It’s colder! You spent much energy staying still and suspended over him…”

_“Better to retire,”_ Ismael suggested. _“See you soon, sonny!”_ _  
_ _  
  
  
_

The familiar environment of Kaz’s bedroom disappeared and Klaus found himself into the darkness again.

He slowly started to perceive the entire weight of his own body, the soft mattress of Ben’s bed beneath his back and the warmth of Aenya’s hands.

And then... all the energy he lost made his strong and well developed muscles shake.

He removed Ben’s scarf from his face, his hand trembling. He panted, trying to dry the sweat from his forehead.

“Hey, hey, man, be quiet, let me help you,” Ben whispered, leaning over him and dabbing his face with a handkerchief.

The younger boy let his hand fall onto his own chest, while Aenya started using her powers to remove all the physical consequences from his short, ghostly adventure.

“Are you okay, honey?” the Heartrender asked. “What happened?”

“I... I called Ismael... the pirate... Uncle Kaz is awake…” Klaus took a deep breath. His sister’s skills were helping him recover fast.

“I hoped he was... planning our mission. I hoped to find a clue, especially about the girl he recruited... but he was just checking his business... and then…” he blushed, while the strong sense of guilt filled his chest again. “Well... he misses Aunt Inej…”

“I can imagine that,” Aenya smiled. “I miss her too. Luckily, we are going to see her soon.” 

“Oh yes, for a dangerous mission,” Ben laughed. “What a nice family reunion! Hello, uncle, it’s amazing to meet you, let’s go hunting a dangerous, mad scientist now!”

“You’re always a sugar cube, Ben,” Adrien muttered, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. “Still cannot understand why my parents like you so much. I bet they’ll wait for us in the harbour with your favourite local bakeries, tomorrow.”

“As you said, I’m a sugar cube, Dree” the Squaller grinned. “And it’s hard to find people who don’t like sugar cubes. But if I’m a sugar cube, you’re a delicious waffle then and I’m sure my parents would love you too, if I had parents.”

“Stop mocking me,” the young Inferni replied, pretending to be brooding when his boyfriend placed a kiss on his forehead.

“Are you excited to come back home, Ade?” Aenya smiled, keeping on with her powers to heal her brother from the struggle.

Adrien’s family lived in Ketterdam. His father was a Grisha Suli, who never had the occasion to train his powers properly, so, when his older son asked to be trained in Ravka, he immediately agreed and helped him to persuade his wife to let him go.

“Yes, I’m happy to see my family,” the seventeen-year-old boy said. “I hope I’ll have the occasion to spend some time with them, when we’ll complete our mission. Well... _if_ we’ll complete our mission…”

“I love to see how much you believe in our possibilities, Dree-Dree.”

“Ben, please, can you shut up for a moment?”

Klaus and Aenya giggled, while the two sweethearts started to tease each other again.

The Heartrender checked if her brother’s body needed extra care, then, she placed her thumbs on his eye-bags and carefully erased them.

“Here you are,” she murmured, kissing Klaus’ temple.

The boy smiled, thanking her and sitting on the mattress, stretching his huge, muscular arms.

Aenya patiently erased his eye-bags every morning. He was sure she would have done it again, the next day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here with the first official chapter!  
> Thanks to everyone who read it, I really hope the story won't disappoint you!
> 
> Lynn


	3. LIAN

Lian hated being small.

She hated being overhung by a crowd of heads and shoulders, hats and collars; she hated being forced to walk almost on her toes and jump to see the ships that were docking in that moment.

“Do you want me to describe the situation?”

The tiny Shu girl shot a fierce glower at the young Zemeni woman by her side: “Ask me that once more and I swear, Boumal, you’ll soon find a poisoned needle stuck in your pole-like leg!”

Kayla burst into laughs, baring her white, perfect teeth. She was six feet tall, she had a large mass of thick, black curls on her head and wore a pair of huge, dark glasses to hide the white patch that covered the skin around her left eye.

“Do you think it’s funny?”

“A poisoned needle in my leg? Or you mad at me?”

Lian snorted, turning around and making another little jump. “I still don’t understand why Kaz hired you... where are my parents, now? They were just behind us…”

“There,” Kayla said, waving her hand. Lian saw another dark skinned hand waving back and, few moments later, two men reached them, making their way among the crowd: the older one, who was also the one who waved his hand before, was in his late thirties and his physique was extremely tall and lean; the younger one had soft, auburn curls, a pair of glasses on his nose and his face filled with freckles. 

“Why is Fifth Harbour so crowded, today?” Lian asked.

Wylan Van Eck, the red haired man, took a quick look at his pocket watch: “Cheaper ships sail at this time. Many people are taking some... vacations…”

“Because of Valaky,” Kayla continued. “They’re afraid they will be the next one to disappear.”

“He mainly attacks common people, especially the ones from the lowest part of society,” explained Jesper, the gangling Zemeni, placing a hand on his husband’s shoulder. “People who cannot defend themselves. For many of them, the only way to protect their beloved ones is leaving the city for a while, if they have enough money to do that.”

“And this is terrible for my business,” a rough voice behind them said.

Lian turned, raising an eyebrow. “Always a matter of business, of course. People are kidnapped and forced to leave the city, but the worst part of this story is Kaz Brekker’s ruined business! He’s the true victim, here!”

“Should I care and cry for every single soul in this city?” Kaz replied, ironically. “Maybe, in the next life, I will be a philanthropist or a doctor and I will care for people. In this one, I am a businessman, so I care for business and money.” He was a man of average height, with dark hair and sharp features. He wore a long, black coat and he walked with the help of a cane.

“You care for business, money... and a lovely Suli captain, whose name starts with an I…” Jesper teased.

Wylan raised his blue eyes to the sky, shaking his head, while Kaz tightened his grip on the cane. Lian expected him to attack her father, she was ready to stop him, but the criminal curved his lips in a little, careless grin, instead, and turned his attention to Kayla.

“I bet you appreciate your new accommodation.”

“A big mansion versus a small flat I had to share with two other students?” the young woman smiled. “I would be a liar to deny it. And the roommates are much better too,” she added, winking at Jesper and Wylan. 

“And you had no one to bully about their height, in your flat,” Lian grumbled, trying to look around. “Adrien’s family?”

“They’re coming,” Jesper replied, narrowing his eyes towards the nearest pier. “And our Ravkan gang is coming, too!”

Lian instinctively jumped, only to be hit in the ribs by a haughty man’s elbow. She swore, crossing her arms and taking a quick glance on Kayla’s expression, but the girl didn’t seem to notice her struggle, she was looking straight ahead, her full lips curled in a little smile, filled with curiosity.

Lian wondered how the tall girl felt: she was the only one who had never met their future teammates, she was the new element in a group of people who had known each other for years.

Was she nervous? Was she excited? How did she find herself stuck in that situation?

Both Kayla and Kaz had been quite elusive about the girl’s story...

“Why don’t you go to wait at the _ Demjin _ ’s?”

Jesper’s voice awoke the girl from her thoughts. “The crowd is getting even more chaotic,” he continued. “You can sit and eat something, meanwhile I’ll greet our friends and take them there.”

“Sounds good,” Wylan smiled. “Do you want us to order something for you, love?”

“A slice of chocolate cake would be perfect. Oh, and don’t forget the waffles! I bet Nina will appreciate it.”

“And I won’t be hit by people’s elbows,” Lian added, glowering at the rabble around her.

Kayla widened her smile. “I like the idea, if we can find a table…”

“I am the owner of that place,” Kaz grinned. “We can find all the tables we need.”

  
  


The  _ Demjin _ ’s Trick was the most popular café in Fifth Harbour.

Kaz opened it ten years before and, as he often stated, that had been one of his best investments ever: a large building, with three floors and a modest but suggestive appearance; the outside walls were painted in black and white squares, while the internal rooms and the furniture were themed after the Chess Game.

Kaz didn’t want it to be elegant and luxurious: speaking in business terms, it was settled in a strategic place, always filled with people from all the social classes. He wanted his café to look appealing but affordable to everyone, from the merchant to the fisherman, from the richest sovereigns to the poorest servants.

As Kayla suggested, the café was crowded, but that wouldn’t have been a problem to Dirtyhands: he entered the local, the tip of his stick ticking on the chessboard themed floor, and immediately Fannie, Anika’s girlfriend, whom Kaz placed there as a director, ran to greet him and his companions.

“Good morning, Kaz” she smiled. “And good morning to all of you!”

“Good morning, Fannie,” Wylan answered. “How’s Anika?”

“Oh, she’s better, thanks. She can’t wait to be fully operative again. Kaz, do you need the reserved tables in the terrace?”

“Yes,” the leader of the Dregs answered, taking his coat off.

Fannie led the small group upstairs, reaching a large terrace with three long, black and white tables.

Over the baluster, the customers could enjoy a pretty view of the harbour.

“Yes,” Lian whispered maliciously, taking a seat near to Kayla, while Fannie brought a notebook from the pocket of her uniform. “We always have a reserved table. No one can sit on the terrace, except for Kaz Brekker and his companions.”

“I could expect nothing less from Dirtyhands” the Zemeni girl replied, grabbing a menu and reading it quickly. “I would love a cream tart and a glass of water, please.”

“Strawberries with ice cream,” echoed Lian.

Wylan mumbled after a while. “Well... a slice of chocolate cake for Jes... two big plates of waffles... and.. I think I’ll have some ice cream, too.”

“And a cup of coffee for me,” Kaz concluded. “We’ll call you back when the others arrive.”

“Perfect,” Fannie replied, walking away after she wrote down all the orders.

“So” Lian started, shooting at Kayla an inquisitor glance. “You’re going to meet all the gang. Are you nervous?”

“Nervous?”

The older girl shrugged. “I am curious. I have never had an experience like this.”

“And what experiences did you have, then?” the Shu girl inquired, propping her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her palm.

Kayla let a small laugh out. “Do you want me to tell seventeen years of life?”

“I think we have enough time.”

“Lian,” Wylan smiled. “Elbow on table. Put it down, honey.”

“Speaking of experiences and time,” Kaz said. “I am going to give you a great gift. You and your teammates can train together today, instead of following us on the mission.”

“What?”

Lian’s jaw dropped. “I thought we would have started like... immediately!”

“You’re going to be a team now, not a group of friends during a trip.”

“But...”

“You need to know each other from a professional point of view, your skills, strengths and weaknesses. It’s an opportunity not everyone has.”

“We hadn’t,” Wylan echoed, a grin on his lips. “Sometimes I still wonder how we succeeded twenty years ago.”

Kayla’s smile widened. Her brown eyes were shimmering behind the dark lenses of her glasses. “The mission at the Ice Court! I am never tired of hearing that story!”

“I can tell you some clue moments again, while we’re waiting,” the redhead man suggested, while Fannie entered the terrace with Kaz’s coffee, the ice creams, Kayla’s tart and Jesper’s slice of cake.

“The waffles will be ready in a few minutes,” she announced. Kaz gave her a quick nod.

_ They changed the subject of the conversation.  _ Lian thought, filling her mouth with strawberries and ice cream.  _ Kaz and Kayla don’t want to talk about her story. But they’re messing with the wrong girl. I will discover their secrets. _

She brought the red folding fan that Grandpa Colm gave her as a present for her eleventh birthday, and she started to open and close it in a distract manner. She loved that fan, it somehow always helped her to feel better when she was nervous.   
  
Fannie came back with the waffles shortly before Jesper’s tall figure appeared on the threshold, followed by a familiar group of ten.

“Here we are with the crew!” the gangling man said, theatrically bowing and kissing Fannie’s hand.

The Ravkan group was the largest: beautiful, buxom Aunt Nina, Uncle Matthias, the blonde, gentle giant, their two older kids, Aenya and Klaus, and the Etherealki couple, Ben and Adrien.

The Fjerdan group only counted Aleksander Dalgaard, the youngest royal guard at the Ice Court, and the Suli ambassador Eudora Haksar.

Adrien’s parents and younger sister also joined the group. 

Lian stood up, cleaning her mouth as quickly as she could, ready to introduce Kalya to her friends, but she was immediately choked by Aunt Nina’s hug, her face pressed against the woman’s large breasts.

“Lian, my child! I missed you so much, honey!”

“Missed you too, Aunt Nina,” she coughed. “We ordered waffles for you.”

“Oooh, I see, I see! You couldn’t greet me better,” the Grisha trilled, grabbing immediately one of the soft, hot waffles and taking a bite.

“Everyone, please, I know you want to greet each other, but time is as precious as coin,” Kaz interrupted them, clearing his throat. “Take a seat and ask Fannie anything you want. We have a lot to talk about.”

_ He’s in a bad mood because Aunt Inej hasn't arrived.  _ Lian thought, smiling to Aenya who sat next to her.

“Where is Noëlle?” the Shu girl whispered to her friend, referring to her twelve-year-old sister.

The Grisha’s lips curved in a little smile. “We left her at home,” she answered. “She was furious.”

Lian let a silent laugh out, then, she took a quick glance all around the room, studying her mates one by one. A sudden, thrilled sensation grew into her chest: it was beginning. She was finally going to work on her first, dangerous mission.

“So,” Kaz started, once Fannie took the extra ordinations. “We all know why we’re here. Mad scientist, kidnapped persons, my business threatened.”

“And I bet this is the worst part of the situation, isn’t it,  _ Demjin _ ?” Matthias commented, ironic. “Your threatened business.”

“It’s on the priorities list,” Kaz replied, calmly. “By the way, Nikolai insisted a lot on the idea of a new, young team, so it will be better for you to be a winning move. As I was explaining some moments before, today you’ll have the opportunity to train together, while we, the adults, will start immediately to investigate. This is a great gift to you: you’ll learn to cooperate as a team.”

A disappointed expression painted Ben’s face, while all the others nodded, showing their approval. Lian felt great empathy with the young Squaller.

“She is Kayla,” Kaz concluded, giving a quick nod at the Zemeni girl. “I personally asked her to join the mission.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” she smiled. “I know I am the new element, since you’ve been friends since years, but I hope you’ll appreciate working with me. I can’t wait to start!”

_ Me too.  _ Lian thought, snorting. She noticed after a few moments silence had fallen in the room. She rose her glance, looking at the entrance: a Suli woman in her late thirties, dressed in pirate clothes, stood on the threshold, her tiny arms crossed, her lips curved in a smile.

No one heard her arrive.

Suddenly, Nina’s scream echoed across the entire terrace: “INEJ!”

The captain of  _ The Wraith _ laughed happily, finding herself soon in Nina and Jesper’s warm hug.

“Guys!” she said. “Saints know how much I missed you and how happy I am to see you!”

Lian felt a gentle touch on her own hand, then, Aenya whispered in her ear, “I bet Uncle Kaz will be more relaxed now.”

It was almost true. Dirtyhands’ rough expression had suddenly changed. His features were less sharp, the line of his lips was less plain than usual.

He stood up, slowly approaching the tiny woman. Jesper and Nina parted from her, so she could take a few steps ahead, towards the criminal.

Kaz took his time to look at her, studying every inch of her entire figure, like he was making sure she was there. Then, his gloved hand gently caught hers, leading it to his mouth.

He pressed his lips on her fingers, then he murmured a few, simple words. “Welcome back, my captain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally the Crows are reunited!  
> Hope you'll also like the eight OCs ❤
> 
> Here you can find the fanart made by @saatanan-sorsasesonki, that represents Inej's arrive at the café.  
>   
> https://saatanan-sorsasesonki.tumblr.com/post/628621607077888001/lian-noticed-after-a-few-moments-silence-had  
>   
> Comments are obviously welcomed, but I am always grateful to everyone who reads. 
> 
> Lynn


	4. BEN

Ben would have never wandered alone in Van Eck’s mansion. Never.

That house was a huge, freaking labyrinth.

Nothing he was used to. He had spent most of his childhood in an orphanage, sharing a room with other ten children. And then, when he was sent to the Grisha Academy, he still had roommates to live with.

Large, empty spaces scared him a bit. That’s why he was grateful to Adrien’s parents, when they invited him to spend the nights at their home: they lived in a big house too, but with less rooms and aisles, and they had no problems letting him sleep in their son’s bedroom.

“Ben, are you still with us?” 

The Ravkan shook his head and smiled, patting Lian’s shoulder. They were in the large garden on the back of the house, where Jesper and Wylan set a professional training camp. There was a shooting range, several moving targets in human shape and a rectangular space for Grisha magic exercises.

“It’s weirdly similar to the military training camp,” Xander noticed, placing himself in front of a target and aiming at it with a rifle. “I never expected to find something like this.”

“How do we start?” Adrien echoed. “Brekker left us here with no indications...”

“Let’s show me your skills,” Kayla replied.

She was sitting on a wooden chair, legs crossed, a copybook and a pen in her hands. A long bow and a quiver filled with arrows laid on the ground, near to her feet.

Lian approached her, a suspicious glance on her face. “What are you doing?”

The Zemeni girl smiled. She hadn’t removed her large, dark glasses yet.

“I am a strategist,” she said. “I need to know my teammates, their abilities, their strengths, their weak spots... and I also want to know you as persons, since I am the new member here.”

“You had already written something,” Aenya noticed, peeking from behind the young woman’s back. “Can you tell us what it is?”

“Or is it top secret?” Lian snorted, ironic.

Kayla widened her smile. “It’s not a secret: I took notes from Kaz’s documents about Valaky’s case. I need to understand...”

“Do you have any ideas?” Eudora asked.

In a little time, the entire team was surrounding the young strategist. Kayla bit her own lower lip.

“It’s... complicated... Valaky is damn good at keeping secrets... it’s very unusual, you know, usually mad scientists scream their purposes at the world, their experiments... his behaviour is... out of every scheme... and look at the kidnapped people’s profiles...”

She gave her copybook to Aenya, who read it rapidly. Then she passed it to Lian, who gave it to Adrien once she finished reading.

“None of these comes from high society,” the Inferni noticed, handing the quire to his boyfriend.

Ben took his time to admire the neat calligraphy and elaborate the information. “Definitely... all these people come from lower classes... some of them have been directly picked from the streets...” he gave Xander the copybook. “Not a big surprise.”

Kayla nodded. “Many of them also lived alone. Poor, marginalized people, immigrants, homeless people... people society cares less about. Persons whose disappearance can be unnoticed.” 

“And none of them is over sixty,” Klaus echoed, after reading.

“This is probably because Valaky needs people who can resist his experiments as much as possible,” Aenya answered. 

“Yes, but, apart from this,” Lian said, while Dora was giving Kayla the copybook back. “Those people have... nothing in common!”

The young woman nodded again. “Exactly. Marginalized people under sixty. Nothing more. Nothing that could give us a clue about his plans. Well... actually I have a small suspect, but I need Kaz and his team to come back to give me extra information... okay, guys, time to show me your amazing skills!” 

Lian opened her mouth to protest, but Ben clapped his hands, “Fine, let’s start working! Just a little question, Kay... can I call you Kay? Okay, Kay, are you going to analyze your notes and watch us at the same time?”

“My brain is multitasking,” the seventeen-year-old winked. “Who wants to go first?”

“Us,” Dora smiled, taking Xander’s hand and taking place in the middle of the moving targets circle. They both had a gun in each hand and they stood back to back. 

They created a funny contrast together. Xander was a blonde, pale giant, even bigger than Klaus, while Dora was slightly shorter than average and skinny, with a bronze complexion. 

Ben grinned, leaning with his elbow on the top of Kayla’s chair. “They used to date, once, you know?”

“Really?” the strategist asked, a little surprised.

“They did. But they still adore each other after the breakup. See, Aenya?” he smiled, then. “It’s still possible!”

The older girl shot a fierce glower at him. Ben immediately cursed his own inability to shut up.

“Aeny, did you and Yasha break up?” Lian said, widening her eyes. “I am sorry, I didn’t know...”

“It doesn’t matter. This isn’t important for our mission. Go on, guys.”

Ben bit his tongue, while Klaus pulled the lever that operated the mechanism of the moving targets. Xander and Dora started to move in perfect synchrony, aiming and shooting. They looked like two harmonious and lethal dancers, completely absorbed by an amazing choreography.

They were hypnotic.

Kayla annotated something on her copybook, a little smile curved her beautiful, full lips.

Once their guns were empty, Dora grabbed Xander’s huge, muscular arm and she used it as a support to jump and rotate her body into the air: with a kick, she freed a blade hidden in the heel of her right boot and hit the target’s wooden throat, leaving a long, clean cut on it.

Kayla smiled, clapping her hands. “Very good. Wonderful coordination and fighting skills. Do you have any other useful abilities?”

“I have some medical knowledge,” Dora explained. “Then, my body is extremely resistant to poisons and chemical substances, much more than average. And I am fluent in five languages, apart from Suli.” 

“I am... just a soldier,” Xander said, blushing. “I don’t have other special abilities...”

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Xander,” Aenya interrupted him, placing a hand on Kayla’s shoulder. “This boy knows everything about the animal kingdom.”

“Well... not everything...” he murmured, lowering his grey eyes. “I mean... it’s impossible to know everything... and I don’t know if this can be useful to our mission...”

“It is,” Kayla assured, writing down the information she received. “Okay, who’s next? Aenya, you’re a Heartrender and I know you’re one of the bests at the Grisha Academy... and Klaus... your powers are...”

“Unusual,” the sixteen-year-old said. “Yes... I can raise the dead and manipulate dead matter like my mother, but... I am also linked to the spirit world... that causes me some troubles...”

“What do you mean?” Kayla asked.

Klaus swallowed hard, lowering his glance. Ben put a hand on his large shoulder.

“It’s not always easy to deal with ghosts,” the blonde explained. “Sometimes they can be... out of control... they want to be listened, to tell their stories and... to make me feel the pain they felt when they were still alive... of course, there are also useful things I can do with my powers, for example, I can send them to places I know to spy on people or send messages... I can see through their eyes when I do that...”

“That’s incredibly interesting... are there any ghosts here, right now?”

Klaus shook his head. “I’m alone, at the moment. I mean, I’m with you, but there are no ghosts here, I’m sorry...” 

“No problem,” Kayla smiled. “Lian, Ben, Adrien... your turn now.” 

The Shu girl grinned, showing a set of sharp, small knives, “Those are my babies” she explained. “Each of their blades are poisoned. I concocted the poison by myself. Look at this, now!”

She pulled two knives out of the sticks and, as fast as the wind, she threw them at a target: one hit the head, the other hit the chest.

“And that’s not all” she added, pulling a small, round clock out of her pocket. “Adrien, I think this is yours.”

“What the...” the Inferni stuttered, grabbing the little object she was handing him. “Lian!”

“It was just for the mission’s sake!” the Shu girl justified herself, showing her palms. “Our strategist needs to know our abilities!”

“Don’t take it personal, Dree-Dree,” Ben laughed, touching gently his boyfriend’s cheek. “It seems it’s our turn, now. I bet we cannot show our powers out of that rectangle.”

“Definitely,” Lian answered. “My fathers won’t be happy if you destroy our garden.”

“Fine.”

“Wait,” Kayla said, checking her copybook. “You’re a Squaller and an Inferni, right?”

Ben noticed a quiver in her voice.

“Yes? I am a Squaller and Dree-Dree...”

“Stop calling me like that!”

“Dree-Dree is an Inferni.”

Kayla put her copybook down, “Oh, well, I know your abilities then. You don’t need to show me that. Do you want to see what I can do?”

Adrien blinked confusedly and Ben frowned. There was something strange in her sudden change of attitude.

“Yes... of course...”

The girl smiled, bringing the bow and the quiver that laid at her feet. She aimed at the moving targets and shot them thrice, hitting three vital parts of a human body.

“It isn’t something you can see so often,” Xander commented. “You’re probably the first person I know that uses bow and arrows as a main weapon.”

Kayla removed her dark glasses and winked at him. A large, white patch of skin surrounded her left eye. 

“Arrows can be regained, bullets don’t. Less waste of munitions.”

The Fjerdan nodded, smiling.

“Well, it seems we’re already bonding,” Dora noticed. “I think we can try to train together in pairs or groups, creating simulations. Kayla, if you want, you can elaborate strategies with the information you have.”

“That’s a good idea,” the Zemeni girl said. “We have the whole day to train. Okay, let me check my notes again... I have already some ideas for the first simulation...” 

  
  
  


The night was quiet, silent. A dark, starless sky over them.

The team had trained during the whole day and now, after a light dinner, they were relaxing in the garden.

Kaz and his team hadn’t come back yet.

Ben sighed, taking a look at his friends: Aenya, Kayla and Lian sat on deckchairs, while the others laid on the grass, like him.

Xander had fallen asleep, with Dora’s head on his shoulder. Sometimes, he started snoring, so she had to tap him gently on his side.

“Ben...” Adrien murmured.

The Squaller turned his head to look his boyfriend into his green eyes. They were laying side by side, holding hands.

“It’s late,” the Inferni continued. “I think we should go home...”

_ Home _ ...

That word still sounded weird at Ben’s ears. The orphanage had never been his home. Of course, he has never been mistreated, his keepers were kind persons. He often went into troubles because of his incapability to shut up, but they never punished him too harshly. The other orphans weren’t mean to him and he spent ten years of his life in that place.

But he never felt at home, he never felt a deep bond with any person who lived or worked there.

Family? A word he barely knew what it meant.

At the Grisha Academy, things were almost the same: he had a roof over his head, some friends, he had his first flirts and love stories with both boys and girls... but he still felt alone. He still needed to make his armour made of humour and positivity even thicker. 

It was only when he met Adrien, three years before, it was only when he was hosted at his house for the first time, that he finally understood the meaning of those weird words.

And now... well, now with his teammates he felt something similar.

_ From no family to two,  _ he thought with a smile.

“Ben?”

The Ravkan sighed, propping on his elbows: “You’re right, Dree. Better go home, now.”

He was about to thank Lian for the hospitality, when a dark, lean figure entered the garden, limping towards them.

“Klaus?” a familiar, male voice called.

The blonde Grisha sat up, a confused expression on his face: “Uncle Kaz?”

Dirtyhands stopped a few metres from the group, both his hands on the head of his cane.

“I need you, Klaus. No, your parents and you fathers,” he added, anticipating the boy, Aenya and Lian’s questions. “They haven’t come back yet but they will be here soon. It’s only me now. Kayla, Inej is going to bring you new information.”

“Okay,” the girl said. “Is everything alright?”

Kaz nodded: “Yes. But I just need Klaus right now. Follow me, boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here with the new chapter!  
> Sorry if the Crows are having a little screentime, for now, I need the first chapters to introduce the news OCs, but they'll soon have more scenes!  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Lynn


	5. KLAUS

“I know where you’re taking me.”

Kaz’s dark and lean figure looked like a limping shadow, that proceeded rapidly, ahead of him. “You know?” the man asked in a plain voice, without stopping his walk.

Klaus sighed, crossing his strong, muscled arms. Each streetlamp was several metres away from the others, leaving a dark gap in between.

A black, silent canal flowed quietly at their right side.

“I feel that,” the teenager replied. “I feel my powers growing... every step I take, my magic becomes stronger...”

Kaz snorted: “I’m doing you a favour, trust me.”

A ghostly hand touched gently the blonde boy’s shoulder.  
  
_ "Trust me, he says,”  _ Ismael grunted.  _ “I would entrust my spirit life to a dog, rather than him.” _

_ “Where is he taking us?”  _ asked Emilie, holding her lantern in front of the trio.

Kaz stopped near a small bridge, where a familiar figure, a dark haired man in his forties, was waiting on a boat.

Klaus smiled, while Dirtyhands hit twice the wooden side of the boat with the tip of his cane.

“Hi, Rotty!” the boy said. “It’s been a while...”

“Hello, sonny!” the Dreg replied, wisely avoiding to offer Kaz his help. “How are you? Is it my impression, or are you even taller than the last time we met?”

The young Grisha blushed, getting clumsily on the boat and sitting next to Kaz. “A bit... how’s your family?”

“I remind you we’re still working,” Kaz interrupted them.

Rotty nodded, starting to row. The black, dirty waters beneath the boat emanated an unpleasant smell. Klaus tried to imagine what disgusting things could hide under the surface.

Ismael’s ghost sat on the right edge of the boat, while Emilie flew over the dark, fetid fluid.

Silence and darkness surrounded them.

_ “We will be by your side, Klaus”  _ the pirate said, noticing the boy’s worried expression.  _ “Whatever this idiot has in his mind.” _

“I have a clue...” Klaus murmured, anxiety raising into his chest as the opposite shore approached.

Ghostly whispers reached his ears, calling him.

When Rotty finally stopped the boat, Klaus felt surrounded by a spooky, intoxicant energy. His magic flowed in his veins, burning, powerful. A silver, heat fluid that filled his entire body. It happened only when he was surrounded by death.

“Wait for us,” Kaz ordered Rotty. “If Klaus does his duty, we won’t take too long to come back.”

The Dreg exchanged a quick smile with the teenager, winking at him with an encouraging mood. 

Once Klaus put his feet on the consecrated land, his powers reached the peak of their strength. He felt invincible. And scared.

_ “Where are we?”  _ Emilie whispered, at his side.  _ “It’s a... graveyard...” _

The teenager’s lips moved at their own will, “The Black Veil.”

“Oh, yes, it is,” Kaz replied, ticking his cane on the ground with impatience. “I am glad you have studied.”

“I... I wasn’t talking to...”

Words die into the young man’s throat. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Follow me,” Dirtyhands replied.

Every step sent a shot of energy through Klaus’ legs. He clenched his fists: he felt that, if only he wanted, he could have raised all the dead bodies around him, creating a macabre army…

_ “Caution, sonny,” _ Ismael whispered.  _ “You’re like a bomb ready to explode. Never let your magic overwhelm you.” _

“I... I know,” the boy replied, blushing. “It would be a disaster...”

_ “Where is Dirtyhands?”  _ Emilie asked suddenly.

Klaus stopped, looking around: he was so inebriated by his own powers that he completely forgot what was around him. How long did he walk? When did he lost sight of Kaz? Or better... when did Kaz abandon him on purpose?

“Uncle Kaz?” the boy called.

A silent crowd of graves surrounded him.

_ “That filthy pig!”  _ Ismael grunted.  _ “He left you here!” _

_ “Maybe we should go back to the boat,”  _ Emilie suggested.  _ “I was distracted... did we walk straight or...” _

_ “Brekker deviated. I am sure he purposely wanted Klaus to get lost here.” _

“But... why?” the sixteen-year-old murmured.

Ismael shook his head:  _ “Who knows, my boy? He’s probably playing one of his stupid, sadistic games. Forcing you to use your powers. But don’t worry, you know I’m great at finding ways, I will take you out of here.” _

Klaus sighed, rubbing his own huge, bare arms. He knew uncle Kaz didn’t mean to hurt him, he knew he was simply acting as the businessman he was: he needed him to face his powers and use them in that specific moment. He had something in his mind and he wasn’t even barely aware of the struggle he faced daily.

_ “Oh no...” _

Emilie’s voice awoke him from his thoughts: her lantern extended its pale blue light, then, it started blinking. It was a warning.

A ghostly buzz slowly filled the air, increasing its intensity. A silver mist surrounded them.

Klaus moaned: that wasn’t mist.

_ “Klaus… Klaus… Klaus...” _

“No...” he murmured, covering his ears with his own, large hands. “No, please...”

_ “Stay away!”  _ Ismael yelled, unsheathing his long, lean sword and placing himself in front of his young, living friend.  _ “Leave him alone!” _

_ “He cannot listen to all of you!”  _ Emilie echoed, shielding Klaus from behind.

The mist approached. Klaus could see thousand faces with distorted features, hands like claws, stretched towards him. He wanted to cry, to plead with them, to explain he couldn’t help them, they were too many and he was just one...

Ismael and Emilie stopped the first assault, repelling the demanding ghosts with the sword and the lantern, but they were soon overwhelmed by a tidal wave of tormented souls.

_ “KLAUS! KLAUS!” _

Voices became almost unbearable, Klaus felt like his head was about to explode.

_ “Help me, Klaus! Look what they have done to me! Klaus, listen to me! Klaus, avenge me! Feel my pain, Klaus!” _

A series of painful, horrible sensations started to torture him. He felt his back stabbed three times, his throat clenched by cruel hands.

He felt bullets sinking into his body, water filling his lungs, fire eating his flesh.

“S...stop...” he pleaded, falling on his knee. “Please, stop!”

His thoughts and memories were soon replaced, filling his mind with thousands different, painful pasts.

Memories of places he never saw, people he never met. Abuses he never faced. Names he never heard.

Klaus crouched on the ground, crying and trembling. He thought he would have been driven mad. Mad like a...

_ “... scientist! A mad scientist!” _

Wait...

Klaus opened his left eye, the green one, “What did you say?”

He struggled to concentrate, to find a singular presence into the mist. He had never tried something like that before, but... but he realized that, focusing on a single voice into his mind, he was able to make the other voices weaker.

He felt protests and annoyance from the other spirits, but he couldn’t let go that single, possible clue of the mission he was assigned.

“I... I’m sorry...” he murmured. “I don’t want to ignore you... but I... I am not strong enough to hear you all... and I need to talk with one... please, where are you?”

The mist slowly faded away, taking the ghostly buzz with it.

Klaus felt a sudden heat of power. He stood up, straightening his back: he was filled with a sense of confidence he never felt before.

Ismael and Emilie sided with him. The pirate sheathed his sword, while the young woman lowered the lantern she tried to use as a weapon.

“You, who talked of a mad scientist,” Klaus called. “Please, come to me!”

A skinny, emaciated ghost materialized in front of the trio. It was a man of average height... or what it was left.

Klaus couldn’t give him an age, since his features and limbs were covered by burns.

“Uhm...” the Grisha started. “Hello... who are you?”

The ghost shivered:  _ “My name is... Loyd.” _

“Hi, Loyd… what has happened to you? You talked of a mad scientist: do you know his name?” 

Loyd tried to scratch his own face with his inconsistent fingers:  _ “A demon! A demon he was! Valaky the name! Igor Valaky!” _

_ “Our man,”  _ Ismael commented.

Klaus opened his mouth to answer, when a clawed hand grabbed his shoulder from behind, making him wince.

The boy turned around, catching a thin wrist with excessive strength. A male hiss, two dark, cold eyes met his.

“Oh,” Klaus murmured, releasing the grip. “Uncle Kaz...”

_ “Filthy bastard!”  _ grumbled Ismael, stabbing the man with his ghostly sword.

Dirtyhands cleared his throat, completely unaware of the ghost’s attacks: “Who are you talking to?”

Klaus exchanged a quick look with Loyd: “It’s Loyd. One of Valaky’s victims...”

“Really?” 

There was no genuine surprise in the criminal’s tone: “I would like to hear. If the ghost is here, that means his body is buried somewhere, on this island.”

Klaus swallowed hard and nodded: “I... I can ask him to guide us... Loyd, please?”

The spirit looked at Kaz with fear:  _ “I don’t like this man.” _

_ “Who does?”  _ Ismael commented, sarcastic.

The blonde boy sighed: “It’s okay. He’s my uncle. Please, show us where your body is, Loyd.”

The ghost let a painful moan out:  _ “Follow me.” _

He led them throughout the Black Veil, flowing over hundreds of graves. He finally stopped in a lonely area, with a few, extremely ancient graves, with erased letters and hugged by thick creepers. 

The only sign of recent human presence was a mound of moist earth. Loyd pointed at it.

_ “My body is there,”  _ he said, before vanishing.  _ “Please, show respect...” _

“I will,” Klaus promised. 

He stretched his large hands ahead, letting his magic flowing through his fingers and reaching the inanimate matter that lay under the clods of mud.

Kaz was at his side, his lips a plain line.

After a few moments, a pale, gaunt claw found its way out of the poor grave. Kaz used his cane to move the earth, retracting with disgust when a second claw grabbed it.

“Be kind,” Klaus murmured him.

A dirty, burned face arose from the clods, its eyes two white balls. His livid lips moved slowly.

“Ghost… king?”

The blonde Grisha smiled weakly. “Hi, Loyd. I promise it will be quick. Can you tell us what has happened to you?”

The corpse took a sitting position, emerging from the earth with the upper part of his body: “The scientist... he tortured me... and many others... he injected something... into my veins...”

“What did he inject you with?”

“I... I don’t know... it burnt... it burnt me from the inside...”

“Where is Valaky’s lab?” Kaz asked.

Loyd shut up, his eyes fixed on the young man. Klaus repeated the question.

“I don’t know...” the corpse said. “The two Grisha... who kidnapped me... blindfolded me... and then... I was into a room... with no windows...”

“What did Valaky want from you?”

Loyd’s white eyes widened in terror. “Fire! He wanted me... to move the fire... in his fireplace... move the fire... move the fire...”

“Move the fire?” Klaus echoed. “What does it mean?”

“Fire!” Loyd gasped. “Fire! Move the fire! Move the fire! Fire in my veins! It burns! It burns! Move the fire!”

“Okay, Loyd, okay,” Klaus said. “It’s okay. It’s enough. Go back to your rest, Loyd.”

The corpse jolted and shivered, then, he started to dig the earth around himself, laying back once he finished. His eyes closed and his body became still and empty again.

Klaus sighed, kneeling and covering the poor, burnt remains with the moist clods. Kaz looked at him silently, pondering about something.

“Move the fire,” the man murmured then. “Move the fire.”

The sixteen-year-old stood up, brushing his hands to remove the dirt and trying to hold the tears back. He suddenly felt exhausted.

“Can we go back home?” he whispered.

Much to his surprise, Kaz nodded. “I got something I needed now.”

Klaus barely heard the insults Ismael and Emilie addressed to the criminal. He barely noticed he was following his uncle throughout the graveyard. He felt like a puppet, whose body was moved by invisible, strong strings.

Once they reached the boat, where Rotty greeted him with a friendly smile, the strings suddenly broke.

He was barely able to sit on the boat, then, he fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the spooky chapter!   
> I really hope you're not finding the story boring, I promise action with all the group will start soon!   
> And in the next chapter we'll have the fourth and last main POV. Any guess about who will be, among the new characters, the next narrator?  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Lynn


	6. KAYLA

“Okay, uhm... we got some news...”  
  
Kayla was sitting at the large table of Van’ Eck’s dining room, her copybook open in front of her. She was surrounded by her teammates, with the exception of Adrien and Ben, who were sleeping at the young Inferni’s house, and Klaus, who laid unconscious on the sofa in the living room, his father taking care of him.

Aenya and Nina were shooting killer glances at Kaz. They seemed willing to murder him with their own hands, once the reunion ended.

Lian sat between her fathers, while Xander and Dora took place on the opposite side of the table. Captain Ghafa was the only one who stood up, her hand on Kaz’s shoulder.

“Well... thanks to... Klaus’ powers,” Kayla started, with little hesitation. “Kaz gained important information. All we knew first was that Valaky is obsessed with Grisha and their powers and that all the kidnapped people are under sixty and come from lower classes. We thought they had nothing else in common, but Jesper, Wylan, and Matthias came with extra, important information: none of the victims are Grisha.” 

“None?” Lian repeated. “This is weird...”

“He uses Grisha to kidnap common people,” Jesper nodded. “We checked carefully.”

“He’s obsessed with Grisha... and kidnaps common people...” Xander murmured. 

“Only common people...”

“Wait” Dora frowned. “Is Valaky a Grisha?”

“No, he’s not,” Aenya replied.

“But he’s obsessed with them,” Lian echoed.

Kayla gladly noticed they were all starting to have a clue. “The victim Klaus talked to, told him and Kaz that Valaky made him painful injections and asked him repeatedly to move the fire on his fireplace. That leads me to think that...”

“No...”

Aenya’s beautiful features were distorted in a horrified expression. “Oh, Saints, no... he’s... he’s trying to...”

“He’s trying to turn people into Grisha!” Lian cried. “Because he wants to become a Grisha too!”

“I am afraid this is the only explanation,” Kayla replied, a sad smile on her full lips.

“This... this is... oh Djel...”

Xander hid his face in his large hands. “He’s destroying innocent lives for a personal whim...”

“Like all the mad scientists do,” Kaz said calmly.

Eudora bit her own lip, an uncomfortable expression on her face. Kayla couldn’t help but notice how beautiful her eyes were. “How can we stop him? Did... did Valaky’s victim tell Klaus and Kaz where to find the laboratory?”

“No, he didn't,” Kaz replied. “But Inej and Nina identified one of the Grisha who Anika fought, thanks to Wylan’s identikit drawings. The Squaller woman.”

“I spied on her all day,” Inej explained. “She’s going to meet someone in Fifth Harbour, tomorrow morning. My crew is already watching over the zone.”

“What do we do with her?” Wylan pondered. “Would it be better to catch her or tricking her into giving us information?”

Dirtyhands stood up, a hand on the raven head shaped handle of his cane. His other gloved hand caught Inej’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Taking her as a prisoner would catch Valaky’s attention. We need a quick plan for tomorrow morning.”

“Are you telling us you didn’t elaborate it yet?” Nina growled. She hadn’t stopped looking at him with a menacing glower. 

“I didn’t want to steal the scene from the kids,” he replied. He pretended a sarcastic tone, but Kayla knew he had great expectations on them. She tried to think quickly: Fifth Harbour, the next morning... how to approach that woman and the person she was going to meet?

“We need a place to attire the Squaller into” Lian suggested. “A place to make her feel comfortable...”

“Like a café?” the Zemeni girl smiled.

Kaz hit the floor with the tip of his cane. “Good. I’ll give you the _Demjin_ ’s Trick for twenty four hours, tomorrow. Make a good use of it.”

“Are you going to lend us the café for an entire day?” Lian asked. “Why?”

Jesper winked at her: “Well... our Squaller is going to meet someone... who knows... maybe, the mysterious person could enjoy some good drinks, tomorrow night...”

The black and white uniform was slightly tight for her tall, athletic body, at first. Kayla stood in front of the large mirror in the _Demjin_ ’s Trick bathroom, while Jesper was quickly working on the fabric fibers, making the clothes larger and longer.

“Are you nervous?” the man asked. 

Kayla smiled. “I can’t allow myself to be nervous. I don’t want to sweat on Fannie’s uniform.”

Jesper let a little laugh out, then, he completed his job, taking a step back: “Done. And don’t worry, I told your teammates too, me, Kaz and the others will be here, ready to help.”

“Thank you, Jesper.”

She took a deep breath, going back to the café main room. She never had any experiences as a café owner, but Fannie told her just to be friendly and kind. All the waiters would have kept doing their job, like nothing had changed.

She rapidly checked the situation behind the dark lenses of her glasses: it was almost eight o’clock, so the local was still almost empty. Adrien was already on his position, behind the bar counter: he was the only one who had a brief experience as a waiter, so he offered himself for the role.

Dora, Xander, and Inej sat at a table near the main window, pretending to be customers, while Aenya, dressed in a Hertrender _kefta_ , was looking at the pastries that laid under a huge glass cloche, on the counter.

Kayla approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder: “Is it all okay?”

The young Grisha nodded. She was slightly shorter than her younger companion and the red _kefta_ wrapped perfectly her lovely, curvaceous figure.

“I’m ready,” she replied.

Kayla smiled, lowering her voice, “How is Klaus?”

Aenya’s jaw stiffened. Her brother had been left at Van Eck’s house, since he was still recovering from the hard night.

Kayla heard the boy’s family arguing with Kaz, after the reunion. She knew Kaz did everything for the sake of the mission, but still felt sorry for her teammate.

“I can physically heal him,” the older girl said. “But when his powers make messes with his mind...”

Kayla removed the glass cloche, took a saucer from the ordered pile that laid near to the pastry tray and placed a small, round tart with chocolate and raspberries on it. 

“Eat something. I bet Kaz won’t be sorry , it’s for the sake of the mission. Chocolate may help you to feel better.”

“That greedy bastard...” Aenya replied, smiling and accepting the delicious tart. “The worst uncle ever. Is him on the upper floor?”

“On the terrace, with Wylan, Jesper, and your parents.”

The Grisha swallowed the first bite of her pastry. “Okay. Are Ben and Lian already...”

“On the roof, waiting. Oh, Inej is calling.”

She gave a gentle pat on her teammate’s back, then she put a bright smile on and approached Inej, Dora and Xander’s table.

“Good morning!” she said, picking a notebook and a pen from the pockets of the uniform. “What can I do for you?”

“Oh, I would like a coffee with cream, please” Dora said, with her sweet, gentle voice.

“I’ll take... the same,” Xander echoed. He had taken a pen from the box on the bar counter and was absently drawing a deer on the paper napkin.

Inej hid her face behind the menu: “Uh, could you please help me? I forgot my glasses at home and I can’t read well...”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kayla bended down next to her.

“Our woman has arrived,” Inej whispered. “It’s not hard to find her.”

The strategist nodded.

“Okay, ma’am, here is our tea selection: may I suggest a sophisticated rose flavoured green tea?”

“That sounds good, thank you!”

Kayla wrote down the orders, taking a quick look out of the window. It was impossible not to notice the red haired woman, wearing a Squaller _kefta_ , who was silently waiting on the pier.

She went back to the counter, giving Aenya a nod. The mission had finally started.  
  
  


“Can you see anything from here?”

Kayla shook her head, cleaning the bar counter for the ninth time in that morning. Adrien was preparing three different coffee orders and was obviously trying to hide his anxiety.

They both knew Ben was right over their heads, using his powers to make the air hot and dry: the combination with Aenya’s abilities was meant to make Valaky’s companion thirsty and in desperate need of a good café.

Finally, Xander raised the napkin, pretending to admire his own work. The side he was showing Kayla was a realistic representation of a salmon near to a bait, mouth open.

“They’re coming” she whispered. Adrien smiled, handing a tray to one of the waiters.

Kayla took a breath, while the door was opening.

 _Come on._ She thought. _You’re one of the two persons who had been able to steal Dirtyhands’ wallet. You faced worse things. Far worse things._

Screams and gunshot sounds filled her mind for a while. She shook her head.

_Not now. Not now._

“Good morning.”

Aenya approached the bar counter, followed by Valaky’s Squaller. Kayla gave them a friendly smile.

“Good morning, ladies! What can I do for you?”

The Squaller replied with a polite but cold nod. She was an attractive woman, in her late twenties, with long, mahogany hair and honey skin. Her irises were so dark they could be barely distinguished from the pupils. 

“I got a little time,” she said. “I would like some water with lemon and mint. And a single ice cube.” 

“I’ll take the same,” Aenya echoed. “Can we drink here, at the counter?”

“Of course! Adrien, did you hear?”

“Two glasses of water with lemon, mint and a single ice cube,” the Inferni repeated. “Got it.”

The Squaller stayed silent for a while, then, she looked at Kayla, narrowing her eyes. “Are you really the owner of this place?”

The girl felt her own stomach burning. Did she do something wrong? 

She widened her smile, struggling against the muscles of her face: “Yes, I am!”

The woman seemed to ponder it. 

“You’re so young,” she finally said.

The tension knot loosened its grip on the girl’s stomach. Kayla exchanged a quick glance with Aenya.

“Oh, well... yes, I am young, but people in Ketterdam can quickly improve their career, if they’re clever and competent. I bet you haven’t been here much often, miss.”

“Just twice or thrice” the woman replied. “Hope you won’t find me offensive, but I don’t like this city very much.”

“Ketterdam isn’t for everyone” Adrien echoed, placing two glasses on the counter, in front of the two customers. “Here you are, misses. Hope you’ll find it refreshing.”

“I hope so. It was terribly hot outside, the climate of this city is so weird” the Squaller said, bringing her glass and raising it, turning to Aenya. “So, thank you... Katrina?”

“Yes, Katrina,” Aenya smiled, imitating her gesture. “You didn’t tell me your name...”

Valaky’s companion took a sip of fresh, flavoured water: “Tatiana.”

The Heartrender smiled, “How long are you going to stay here, Tatiana?”

“Oh, I’m going to leave tonight. My job is almost done, I only have an important meeting this morning, then I’ll be free to go back to Ravka. Finally home.”

Kayla placed some dirty cups into the sink, trying to put a circumstance smile on.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Tatiana suddenly said, walking away and stopping near to Inej’s table. 

The Suli captain pretended to focus on Xander’s drawing, along with Dora, while the Squaller took a look through the large window.

“Finally!” she said then, going back to the counter and taking the last sips of her drink. “My colleague is here. He’s late, as usual. I’m sorry but I must leave now, how much is it for... this?” she finished, tapping on the empty glass.

“I told you I would have bought you a drink” Aenya stated. “Don’t worry then.”

Tatiana hesitated. “I usually would protest... but I definitely need to go, so... I hope I’ll have the occasion to repay your kindness someday, Katrina. Have a nice day everyone.”

Once she walked out of the café, Kayla filled a glass with fresh water and took it to Inej’s table, looking through the window.

“Here you are, miss,” she said, placing the glass in front of Dora.

“Excuse me,” Xander said, standing up and taking a clean napkin. “I see a little dirt stain on the window... let me...”

“Oh, no, sir!” the seventeen-year-old replied, pretending to be surprised and taking the napkin from the Fjerdan’s hand. “I will clean it immediately!”

It was the first time they worked together, but already proved to be a good team, understanding each other immediately.

She started cleaning an imaginary stain, taking her time to observe Tatiana’s moves outside. She was talking to a chubby, white man of average height, elegantly dressed.

 _A merchant_ , she thought, going back to the bar counter. _Now it’s Lian’s turn._

“So?” Aenya whispered. Adrien kept on preparing two cups of berry flavoured tea, but he was obviously ready to listen.

“Male. Middle aged, average height. Probably a merchant.”

“Maybe Lian already knows this man,” the Heartrender suggested. “It shouldn’t be hard for her to follow him.”

“Less hard than listening to Ben’s bullshits on the roof,” Adrien laughed, spilling an alcoholic dark liquid into a small glass. “So, ready for the second part of our mission? It’s going to be an interesting evening... I hope our guest appreciates some good drinks, I could surprise him with... this!”

A small, orange flame started sparkling into the glass, turning into a tiny fire column at Adrien’s command.

Kayla’s eyes widened behind her lenses, her breath stopped for a while.

Fire. _Fire_.

She felt like her own heart had jumped high, reaching her throat. The environment around her became darker, cries and screams into her head... gunshots... flames... flames all around her... cruel flames on her skin... a loud noise...

“Kayla!”

She winced, as she came back to reality, trembling. The main room of the _Demjin_ ’s Trick was lighter than she remembered. 

“Kayla?”

Aenya’s eyes were blue, like Fjerdan ice. However, her worried glance was warm, like her hand, gently clenched around her wrist.

Grisha magic helped her to regularize Kayla’s breathing and heartbeat.

“Are you okay, Kay?” Adrien asked, handing her something. “You lost these...”

“Oh... oh, thank you...” She soon realized everything: she had grabbed the glass and threw it into the sink. She moved so fast she had lost her glasses.

People in the café were staring at her. She tried to save the situation in the best way she could.

“I’m sorry,” she said, putting up a nervous smile. “It’s all okay, just... a little dizziness, the glass slipped from my hands... everything is fine now.” The majority of the customers went back to their conversation.

Kayla gave a gentle pat on Adrien’s shoulder, who was looking at her with a guilty glance, then, she walked to the bathroom. She put the glasses into one of the large pockets of her uniform, then she turned on the tap, letting the cold water flow on her hands. _Luckily, I’m wearing no make-up_ , she thought, wetting her own face. The door opened slowly, followed by the sound of Aenya’s voice.

“Are you okay?”

The girl sighed, turning off the tap and trying to smile: “Yes. I just... I’m sorry for my reaction, I lost control...”

Aenya cupped her face with her warm hands: “Fire, uh?”

“Fire,” Kayla sighed. “I have some problems with it... I risked ruining the mission, I don’t know what to say, to apologise... and poor Adrien, I probably hurt him...” 

The Grisha shook her head. “He’s fine, he’s just sorry he scared you. And don’t worry, the mission is going well, especially thanks to you. I would have probably had a worse reaction, if I saw a spider...”

Kayla frowned: “Are you afraid of spiders?”

“I’m terrified of spiders...”

“You look like someone who’s never afraid.”

“You too...”

They both let a little laugh out, then, Aenya took a step behind, arms open, “Need a hug?” The younger girl widened her smile, sliding into a soft, warm hug. She barely knew her teammates, but she felt like they had been friends since a long time.

“Thank you,” she whispered, once they parted. “Better go back to the café room. The customers are probably asking where the owner is...”

“After you, miss,” Aenya replied, opening the door and waving her hand in a theatrically manner.

Kayla winked at her, putting the dark glasses on again and walking like an aristocratic lady out of the bathroom.

“I’m going upstairs, to inform Kaz about the situation,” she said, noticing an empty seat at her teammates’ table. Inej has probably joined Lian into the spy mission.

Things had started in the most positive way, she thought, but it was just the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are!  
> Kayla is the fourth POV of the story! I am very fond of this character, she literally took control over the story while I was writing.  
> I hope you love her and the others too.  
> Thanks for reading, in the next chapter we'll finally see the first action scene! 
> 
> Lynn


	7. LIAN

Erik Van Hoff. That was the name of their man.

Lian knew him, he was a merchant that dealt with ships building business. He and her fathers were more acquaintances than friends, he once took part to a dinner at Van Eck’s mansion, when Lian was ten, and exchanged quick, polite nods with Wylan and Jesper, when they met in the city streets, but nothing more.

She and Inej spied on him until late afternoon, before going back to the  _ Demjin’ _ s Trick, where they talked about their new purpose while eating some delicious croissants. The second part of the mission had just started.

Some hours later, Lian was on the streets again, hiding on the small terrace of an empty apartment in Zelver District. A dark cloak wrapped her tiny figure, making her a shadow in the night. Few people were still around, in that area.

Finally, a middle aged, plump man, wrapped in a grey coat, appeared. He was slowly walking with a limping dog at his side.

Lian unsheathed one of her knives and sent a quick message reflecting the light of a streetlamp on the blade.

Xander’s tall, muscular figure came out from a small, secondary road, in the same moment Van Hoff’s dog yelped, stopping his walk and sitting on the sidewalk.

“Oh, Yorgo,” the merchant said, bending over the elderly pet. “Come on, just a few steps more... then we’ll go back home!”

“Excuse me, sir, do you need any help?”

Van Hoff winced, straightening his back and placing a hand on his own chest: “Oh, Ghezen... you scared me...”

Xander showed his large palms, “I am sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to scare you... I couldn’t help but notice your beautiful beagle seems to have some troubles...”

The man sighed, while Xander knelt to the ground, letting the beagle sniff at his hand.

“Old Yorgo has started to feel his twelve years... he suffers from...”

“Canine arthritis,” the Fjerdan continued. “It’s very common on elderly dogs. Poor thing, it must be so hard for you, isn’t it, Yorgo? Luckily, I see you are a well treated creature, who follows a correct diet.”

Erik Van Hoff seemed to be impressed: “Are you a vet, sir?” 

“I am an expert,” Xander answered, his eyes fixed on the dog. He gently took Yorgo’s paws in his hands, one by one, moving them carefully. 

Lian widened her eyes: she already knew Xander’s skills with animals, but he was still able to surprise her.

The rich man’s dog was quite harmless, but he was also very shy and used to ignore strangers. She remembered how offended she felt, the day Van Hoff dined at her home, when she vainly tried to persuade Yorgo to play with her.

She spent almost an hour, trying to approach him, but the beagle always ran away from her, hiding under his owner’s chair or behind his legs, so she eventually ended up on Jesper’s lap, her arms folded, deeply outraged and struggling to keep her eyes dry.

And yet... the same dog was letting the young Fjerdan touch him with no problems. He even laid on his side, allowing Xander to perform a complete massage on his aching legs.

“Here we are,” the Fjerdan said, once he finished. “I cannot fully heal him, only Djel could provide such a miracle. But he should feel less pain, for now. Come on, Yorgo, show us.”

He gently made the beagle stand up and, after a little hesitation, Yorgo took a few steps ahead. He walked visibly better than a few minutes before.

Van Hoff covered his mouth with his hand. “For Ghezen’s sake! I hadn’t seen him walking like this for two years! You’re better than our vet, sir... what’s your name?”

The young man seemed a bit uncomfortable: now he had to talk directly to the man and the dog wasn’t the main topic of the conversation. Lian knew how Xander felt, when he had to deal with people he didn’t know: talking about animals was the only thing that helped his poor social skills.

“My name’s... Ivan Handersen, sir. I’m a university student.”

Van Hoff reached out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Ivan, my name is Erik Van Hoff and I work on ship building field. Tell me, my boy, do you have to wake up early, tomorrow morning? I would like to offer you something to drink.” 

The bait was working. Van Hoff worshipped his dog and treated him as a child of his own. He never had wives, nor husbands, nor children. He always had at least one dog at home.

Xander cleared his throat, rubbing shyly his own nape: “Uh... no, I’ll only have lessons in the afternoon, tomorrow...”

“Very well! Do you know any nice place to drink something? I am used to frequent locals for people of my age...”

“I often go to the  _ Demjin _ ’s Trick, sir,” the Fjerdan immediately answered. “It’s not far from here, in Fifth Harbor...”

Van Hoff snapped his fingers enthusiastically, “Oh yes, I know that place! Okay, let’s go there, my young friend!”

Above them, Lian curved her lips in a cunning grin.

  
  
  


Kayla and Adrien seemed to be already used to their undercover jobs at the  _ Demjin _ ’s Trick. He was quick and accurate, while she had a natural talent to make people like her.

Lian herself, despite being always pissed when the young Zemeni playfully teased her, couldn’t help but admit she liked her a lot and she secretly wanted to ask her to live stably at Van Eck’s mansion.

The café was quite crowded that night.

Lian sat with Wylan and Matthias at a round table, near to the one where Xander and Van Hoff took place.

Kaz, Aenya and Jesper occupied the small, square table in the corner, while Inej, Klaus and Ben were checking the situation outside.

Nina and Dora waited in the bathroom for the right moment to enter the scene and play their roles.

At Xander’s sign, Adrien immediately reached the table, ready to take note of the order, while Kayla went knocking at the bathroom door.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” the Inferni said. “What can I do for you?”

Van Hoff started giggling, pointing at something under Xander’s chair: “For Ghezen’s underwear, look at him! Yorgo never crouched at a stranger’s feet! It’s amazing!”

The young Fjerdan smiled, patting the dog, without stopping the eye contact with his Grisha friend: “Uh I’ll take... berry juice with ice.”

“Berry juice?” Van Hoff repeated, visibly confused. “You sure? I wanted to offer you some good wine, or beer, if you prefer...”

“Unfortunately I can’t drink alcohol, sir...”

“Did anyone say alcohol?”

Lian struggled not to laugh, hiding her face behind the menu. Aunt Nina came out of the bathroom, pretending to be tipsy, her generous curves wrapped in a succinct, purple dress.

Dora silently followed her, winking at Lian when she passed near to their table. She wore a sleeveless black vest and a silky, indigo headscarf, that partially covered her long, dark hair.

The merchant took a long look at the beautiful, buxom woman, who approached his table, taking a chair and sitting next to him. “Hello, my dear sir,” she said, blinking seductively. “I heard you’ve got a good taste for wine...” 

Van Hoff giggled, unable to look away from her generous cleavage. “I wanted to offer something to my young, new friend here... but unfortunately he cannot drink...”

“Oh, what a pity,” she moaned, patting Xander’s shoulder. “But I can!”

“Excuse me, ma’am” Adrien shyly interrupted her. “You already had your four glasses, today. You know we cannot give you more...”

Nina pretended to be offended, folding her arms: “That’s so unfair! I wanted to challenge this kind sir into an alcoholic competition!”

“Oh, Ghezen!” Van Hoff laughed. “I haven’t had an alcoholic competition since... years! And I have never been challenged by such a beautiful woman...”

Adrien shook his head: “I am deeply sorry, but we cannot serve more alcohol to Madame Ivanova. Doctor’s orders.”

“Wait!”

Everyone at Van Hoff’s table turned their head, looking at Dora. The young Suli, who stood during all that time behind Nina, gently sat on the woman’s lap, drumming her tiny fingers on the table. “My aunt cannot drink more wine, that’s true. But I can. Would you like to challenge me, sir?”

“Oooh, dearie, that’s a wonderful idea!” the Grisha echoed. “Listen to this, if you win... auntie will buy you a new necklace. And if this nice sir wins... Auntie will invite him for dinner tomorrow!”

From her seat, Lian could see a glimpse of surprise in the merchant’s eyes. He was clearly considering the offer. Dora was a skinny teenager, while he was an adult, a well-built man, who took part in several challenges, during his life. The competition sounded almost ridiculous.

He couldn’t imagine the beverage Dora was going to drink was, in truth, an alcohol-free fluid that looked and smelled like actual wine, nor that a powerful Heartrender was sitting at the small table in the corner, ready to mess with his mind.

Sealing his own, sensational defeat, Van Hoff said, “I accept!”

Nina grinned, while Dora caught Xander’s hand under the table, exchanging a gentle squeeze.

Adrien tapped the tip of his pen on the order notebook. “Alright... what do you want to start with?”

  
  
  


“I think I never witnessed a situation like this,” Wylan said, an amused grin on his lips.

Lian and Matthias nodded, taking quick glances to the nearest table, where the alcoholic competition was going harder.

Dora and Van Hoff grabbed their tenth glass, keeping eye contact. The merchant had an asinine grin on his face and, when he talked, his voice sounded slightly higher.

“Are you ready, sir?” the girl asked.

“I’m ready, I’m ready! Cheers!” The red, strong wine slipped down, into his throat. 

Aenya’s hands moved under the table in the corner, checking and manipulating.

Van Hoff put the empty glass down, laughing, “This girl is hard to defeat...  _ veeery _ , _ veeery _ hard...” He let a hiccup out. “Hey, mister expert... do you think Yorgo could enjoy some wine too?”

“That would be a terrible idea, sir. Alcohol isn’t good for dogs.” Xander answered, petting the dog in a protective manner. Yorgo had jumped on the Fjerdan's lap and seemed quite confused by his owner’s behaviour.

Van Hoff laughed again, resting his hand on Nina’s shoulder, his glance glued to the woman’s large breasts: “Did you hear? Yorgo cannot drink! Poor, poor Yorgo! Hey, my boy, two more glasses, please!” he spluttered, gesturing at Adrien with the free hand. “Only two, not three, because my dog cannot drink!” 

“Yes, sir,” the Inferni replied, struggling to hide a giggle when he met Kayla’s amused glance.

Lian too was finding it difficult to hide her emotions, the situation had become extremely comical. She tried to concentrate on reading the menu for the umpteenth time.

“Maybe Aenya had exaggerated a bit, messing with Van Hoff’s mind,” Matthias whispered, a little smile on his lips. He exchanged a meaningful, lovesick glance with Nina, who bit her own lips seductively. Lian had the impression she could easily read their thoughts in that moment and she blushed a bit.

“At least, he seems to be ready to talk...” Wylan noticed.

“Definitely” his daughter sneered, giving Dora a quick nod. 

The Suli girl, always sitting on Nina’s lap, cleared her voice and blinked with an innocent mood. “I’m just thinking, sir... are you sure you want to keep on with our challenge? You seem to be an important businessman, maybe you’ll have to work, tomorrow morning...”

A quick move from Aenya’s hand.

Van Hoff shook his head twice: “It’s okay, my dear friend! I won’t work, tomorrow morning, I have a  _ biiig _ job to do in the afternoon...”

“Really?” Nina asked, in a singsong voice. “Which kind of job?”

The merchant made a clumsy gesture, inviting her to lower her voice: “A secret job” he whispered. “One of my ships will sail tomorrow... from here, from Fifth Harbour... to Ravka...  _ hic _ ! Yes, my ladies, Ravka!”

“Tell me more, please” Nina pleaded, blinking with her long eyelashes and touching Van Hoff’s chin with her finger, forcing him to raise his glance from her breasts. “My eyes are here, sir. Tell me about your job for tomorrow. What are you going to send to Ravka?”

The man made a weird noise with his nose: “Listen... listen... the ship has textile goods inside... but into the hold... oh, into the hold there’s someone special...”

“Someone?” Dora repeated.

Van Hoff winced: “Something! I meant... something! But don’t tell anyone!”

He burst into a silly laugh, then, he collapsed on the table, toppling a pair of empty glasses and scaring Yorgo, who pressed himself against Xander’s body, yelping.

Kayla and Adrien immediately reached the table: the boy quietly started to put the empty glasses on a tray, while the girl tucked a piece of paper into one of Van Hoff’s pockets.

“The bill, sir” she smiled, straightening her back and sighing satisfied. “Well, it seems we got some important answers...”

“You did an excellent job,” Nina said, hugging Dora. “We’re all so proud of you!”

“Thank you” Xander murmured, his face bright red, his eyes fixed on Yorgo’s confused muzzle. “So... Mr Van Hoff talked about a  _ someone _ who’s going to be sent to Ravka, before correcting himself, out of panic... do you think...”

“Yes” Adrien said, writing the news of the conversation to take them to Kaz’s table. 

“It’s highly possible Valaky has found a safe way to go back to his country...”

“Or he’s sending someone important for his work there...” Kayla suggested. “But we know one thing, for sure: we must stop that ship, tomorrow.”

From her seat, Lian pretended to play with her folding fan, but slowly nodded.

“Well,” Xander said, gently putting Yorgo on the floor to stand up. “I think it’s also time for Mr Van Hoff and Yorgo to go back home. It’s almost one o’clock and the café is going to close.”

“Aren’t we going to abandon them in the street?” the Shu girl joked.

Xander widened his grey eyes: “What? No, absolutely not!”

“I’m just kidding,” she replied. “Do you know the way?”

The Fjerdan seemed to think about it, then he shook his head, timidly. Dora smiled, standing up from Nina’s lap and caressing the blonde’s huge arm. “I’ll come with you. It’s not far from here.”

Xander gave her Yorgo’s leash, then he loaded Van Hoff on his own back, lifting him: “We’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Lian raised her hand, giving them a quick goodbye. She thought she noticed something strange in Kayla’s glance, through her dark glasses, while the Zemeni was looking at the two going away together, but it was only for a moment.

Nina stood up, fixing her dress and approaching their table. “It has been fun. It’s been a while since I hadn’t enjoyed a mission so much.”She seductively sat on Matthias’ lap, rubbing each other’s noses, while the Fjerdan placed his large hands on her soft, glorious hips.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

“I’m okay,” she answered softly, her fingers caressing his beard and sinking into his blonde hair. “I just can’t wait to be alone with you in our bedroom,” she added, lowering her voice, before starting to kiss him passionately.

Lian hid a giggle behind her folding fan, while Wylan cleared his throat, turning his head to the corner table: “I think we can... sit all together, to decide what to do... the café is almost empty now...”

He waved at Jesper, who nodded, standing up along with Kaz and Aenya.

“We heard a bit of the conversation” the sharpshooter said, reaching his husband and bending down to hug him from behind. “Van Hoff was loud enough. And Adrien took us some notes.”

“We got a special ship to deal with, tomorrow” Kaz added, looking instinctively at Kayla. “Correct?”

“It’s going to carry a  _ special someone _ ” she nodded, taking a chair. “That could be Valaky or someone involved with his work.”

“Maybe... one of his human experiments?” Aenya suggested, standing behind her parents’ chair, her hands on her father’s broad shoulders.

The group exchanged a series of meaningful glances.

“It’s possible,” Lian finally said. “Also if this sounds... awful. That would mean... he succeeded with his purpose... an innocent’s life has been drastically changed and we could soon have to deal with a mad scientist with magical powers...”

She tried to add something, when a weird movement outside the window caught her attention. She blinked, focusing Ben’s figure through the glass: he was gesturing desperately, his usually cheerful features were distorted in a worried expression.

“There’s something wrong outside,” the girl said, standing up from her chair and running to the door, ready to unsheathe her knives.

Once she was outside, she collided with Ben’s chest, swearing. She barely noticed Aenya and Kaz had followed her.

“For Ghezen’s fucking blood... what’s happening?”

“Where is Klaus?” Aenya asked.

“And Inej?” Kaz echoed.

Ben took a step behind, panting. Only in that moment, Lian realized he had just had a fight. A long, red cut went across his right cheek.

“Klaus and Inej are... in West Stave... a Fabrikator is trying to kidnap a tramp...”

  
  
  


Lian was the first to reach the battlefield, a solitary road near to the abandoned structure that once was the White Rose, running over the roofs.

She didn’t take too long: a high reel, that seemed to be made of dust, arose over the buildings, giving her a clue of Klaus’ presence.

She went close enough to see the reel was made of bone dust and, lying on her stomach, she learned from the roof of an old edifice, taking a peek at the situation.

An unconscious man, that she guessed to be the kidnapped tramp, was lying on the ground. Inej knelt near to him, trying to wake him up, while Klaus trapped Valaky’s man into his bones whirl.

The Fabrikator didn’t seem to be hurt, he just stood on the ground, vainly trying to find a way to escape from the creepy swirl that surrounded him.

_ The situation is hopeful, for now _ , Lian thought, preparing herself to jump on the street to give her friends a help, when, suddenly, a shadow on the nearest roof caught her attention.

The girl held her breath, trying not to move: her dark clothes hid her properly, but she still had to pay attention. She recognized, with no much surprise, Tatiana, the Squaller woman who Aenya took at the  _ Demjin _ ’s Trick that morning.

She hadn’t already sailed for Ravka, then.

Cautiously, Lian unsheathed one of her knives, hiding the blade with her dark gloves. When Tatiana stood up on the roof, raising her hands to attack, the Shu girl knelt up, throwing the knife with a quick move.

A suffocated cry of pain and surprise soon followed. Tatiana crouched on herself, clenching her left ankle: the knife hadn’t sunk into her flesh, since Lian didn’t want to risk losing it, but it left a deep gash on her leg.

The poison on the blade wasn’t lethal, but it was strong enough to paralyze an adult person’s limb.

Tatiana’s scream, however, distracted Klaus for a while. That brief loss of concentration made the dust reel weaker, giving the Fabrikator a golden occasion to jump out of it, hitting the boy’s stomach with a punch and then stretching his hands toward Inej.

All the woman’s knives flew out of their sheaths, starting to dance into the air, over her head. Inej rolled on her side, avoiding being hit by her own weapons, but one of the blades hit her right hand, making her scream.

Lian jumped down from the roof, landing on the Grisha’s shoulders and stabbing his chest with another paralyzing blade. The man jolted, falling onto his knee, but he tried a last, desperate attack, making Inej’s last flying knife dart in her direction.

Everything happened so fast, everything happened in the same moment: Kaz, Aenya and Ben reached the battlefield just in time to see Klaus’ huge body shielding the Suli woman, letting out a cry when the knife sank into his back.

Lian tried to run to her friend, screaming his name, but Kaz stopped her. “Don’t let Valaky’s man go!” he ordered. “We got Aenya here to help Klaus.”

“There’s also the Squaller over there!” the sixteen-year-old yelled back, pointing at the roof over them. Ben used his powers to lift himself into the air, flying over the buildings to check the situation, while Inej and Aenya were taking care of wounded Klaus, making him lay on his left side.

“Don’t worry, little brother” the Heartrender whispered, her eyes wet. “I will save you, okay? Just... just don’t leave me...”

“Hey, no one’s here!” Ben cried from above their heads. “Only one of Lian’s knives and some blood on the roof...”

“Miss Tatiana must have flown away,” Kaz said, approaching Lian and the paralyzed Fabrikator.

Van Eck’s heir looked angrily at her hostage, who lied on the ground, almost completely unable to move. She unsheathed one of her most lethal blades and pointed it at his throat. “Where is your companion?”

The Fabrikator snorted. He was a man around thirty, with short dark hair, a fair complexion and dark grey eyes.

The poison was rapidly taking over all his body, but he still could move his head and a leg.

“Speak up!” Lian hissed. “You hurt my friend and I’m so tempted to torture you! But if you’ll give me the information I need, I promise I won’t give you a slow, painful death.”

“I don’t think he’ll care about this, Lian,” Kaz said, kneeling next to them. “We should use a more convincing lever...”

Before the criminal could finish his sentence, Valaky’s Fabrikator made a quick move with his head, wounding himself on purpose with Lian’s poisoned knife.

“No!” the girl yelled.

The hostage let some weird, suffocated noises out, then, a violet foam started to come out from his mouth. His body jolted twice, then, it stilled.

Kaz swore behind his teeth. “We lost too much time. Ben, check the entire zone, try to find the Squaller!” 

While the Ravkan boy flew away, Lian stood up from her victim’s body, trying to hold tears of rage and frustration. 

However, her mood got better when she turned her head and saw Aenya sighing of relief. She fully succeeded in healing her brother’s wound.

Lian sheathed her knife, approaching her friends. Klaus rolled onto his back, resting his head on his sister’s lap and taking some deep breaths. 

Inej gently caressed his blonde hair and placed a kiss on his forehead, thanking him, then, her eyes met Lian’s. “You saved us,” the woman said. “If it wasn’t for you...”

“Klaus got distracted by Tatiana’s scream,” the young Shu replied, a guilty expression on her face. “And she screamed because I hit her with my knife...”

“Hey, Li...” Klaus panted, opening his eyes and raising his head a bit, to look at her. “No... bullshit, please. You saved us.” The girl shook her head, a little smile on her face. Klaus often teased her, talking to her in the same way she would have talked to him if she were at his place.

Kaz approached the unconscious tramp, bending over him. “Is he still alive?”

“Yes,” Inej replied, standing up and starting to recollect her knives that laid on the ground. “I think he just fainted out of fear.” 

Aenya stretched one of her hands toward the homeless man, awaking him.

He winced, looking around in panic. “Wha-what has happened?”

Lian knelt next to him. “Don’t worry, it’s all okay. You’re safe now.”

“Safe?” the man replied, incredulous. “Where is that... that Grisha who caught me?”

She nodded with a smile. “He won’t bother you anymore. Oh, should you need a shelter, go to Golding District, near First Harbour, and ask for Hilli's House. It’s a square, ivory coloured, modern building, that my fathers opened for homeless people. Ever heard of it?”

“Hilli’s House,” the tramp repeated. “Uh... no, never heard of it... thank you, miss...”

The girl smiled, helping him to stand up. Her eyes instinctively landed on Kaz, who just bent down to pick the last of Inej’s knives from the ground. He handed it to her and, without saying a word, his free hand gently touched her cheek.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Action finally started!   
> There will be more in the next chapter.  
> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Lynn


	8. BEN

It was going to rain in an hour or two. Ben was staring at the sky, hands in his pockets, quietly standing on the pier where Van Hoff’s ship was moored. By his side, Aenya was silently lost in her thoughts.

Brekker was walking around the same area, with nonchalance, while Lian and Kayla sat on a wooden bench.

Finally, after several minutes of nothing, Klaus reached them, a little smile on his lips.

“So?” Kaz asked, his voice lower than usual. There weren’t many people around them, but they couldn’t know if some of them were Valaky’s spies.

The blonde boy nodded, “The captain fell into the trap. Mama pretended to faint in front of him, so he’s trying to help her, at this moment. He said he had enough time to offer her something at the café.”

“Fine. Aenya, your turn.”

The beautiful Grisha sighed, fixing her jacket and walking towards the ship. She hesitated for a moment, when she found herself in front of the gangway, but then, she kept on walking, her heels ticking on the wood.

They waited for a couple of minutes, then, a double whistle. That was the signal.

Kaz was the first to walk on the gangway. Kayla, Lian and Klaus followed, while Ben closed the queue. The water below was grey and foamy.

An unnatural silence met them, once they reached the deck. Several crew members laid unconscious on the wooden boards, Aenya the only standing figure. She lowered her hands, giving a quick nod to her teammates. “Everyone in this ship is sleeping, now.”

“Go ahead,” Kayla said. “I’ve got a little business to do.”

Lian, Klaus and Aenya frowned, while Kaz simply nodded. No one asked her about her little business, but Ben didn’t feel worried. He met that girl a few days before, but he somehow knew he could trust her and Brekker’s quiet reaction made him think it was everything part of their plan. Lian was probably the only one who was a bit suspicious, but she didn’t show it.

“So” the Squaller said, breaking the silence. “The hold, right?”

“The hold,” Dirtyhands replied. “Follow me.”

There was a whites, spiral staircase that led into the large stomach of the ship. It went through a first floor that hosted a wide deposit and the crew’s dormitory, and descended into the dark hold, filled with cold, wet air.

Once they put their feet on the lowest floor of the ship, Ben raised his hands. “We need something better to breathe,” he said, drying the air around them. 

“Unfortunately, I cannot do anything for the darkness.”

Someone gently patted on his shoulder and, from the dimension of the hand, he guessed it was Klaus.

“No problem for the darkness,” Lian’s voice replied. She and Klaus picked a flint out of their pockets, enlightening the environment.

The ship hold was almost empty, its only inhabitants were a dozen of barrels and some small coffers. No human presence on sight.

“What does this mean?” Ben whispered. “There’s no one here.”

“No, it’s the right place,” Aenya said, pointing at something ahead. “Look, there’s a small door over there. And I can feel a presence inside. Three people. Two of them are scared and one... one is dying... we must be quick...”

“Nice,” Lian replied, giving Aenya her flint and pulling out of her right boot a thin, long, silver coloured pin. She approached the door, making sure it was closed, then, she started working on the lock.

“Aeny, I think you should go ahead. These scared people are probably Valaky’s experiments and you got the most reassuring appearance.”

“Well, true,” Ben echoed. “You’re not armed to teeth like Lian nor giant like Klaus, you haven’t got my messy look and you’re not...” he gave a quick look to Dirtyhands. 

“Well, you’re not Kaz.”

“Fewer words, more facts,” the older man replied.

A small  _ click _ . Lian’s lips curved into a grin: “Here we go. After you, Aeny.”

The young Grisha carefully crossed the threshold, holding the flint ahead. A small cry gave confirmation to their theories.

“It’s okay,” they heard her whisper. “We’re here to free you... oh Saints... guys, come here...”

Klaus and Ben exchanged a quick glance, then, they followed Lian into the room. Kaz was the last one to come in, his sealed lips a plain line. They found themselves into a small, empty room, where the only sources of light came from their two flints. 

Aenya was kneeling next to a pale man, who laid on his side on the cold floor. In a corner, two teenagers were holding each other, trembling, their eyes filled with terror.

The girl was around Aenya’s age and she had long, messy, chestnut brown hair, that once should have been beautiful, while the boy, around fifteen, had big, dark eyes and his brown skin was filled with cuts and bruises. They were all barefoot, their hands and ankles chained, and they wore a white vest that reached their knees.

“For the Saints’ goodness...” Ben murmured, shocked.

Klaus showed his large palms, displaying pacific intentions, and he slowly approached them, kneeling. “Hi, my name is Klaus... don’t be scared, we’re here to help you... what are your names?” 

The girl lowered her glance, biting her own lips. Her younger companion looked at her, silently asking what to do, but, when he received no response, he took a deep breath and stuttered: “I’m... Avel... they’re Tara and... Lukas...” he sadly nodded at the unconscious man, who Aenya was desperately trying to heal. “He started to feel sick yesterday night, when they took us on the ship...”

“Why are you here?” Kaz asked, coldly.

Avel winced at the sight, but he didn’t lose his courage. “Doctor Valaky said we’re sailing to a special place... we’re his first success...”

“So, it’s true...” Lian murmured, approaching the young experiments and starting to work on their chains with her pin. “He did it...”

“Wait,” Kaz said, taking a few steps ahead. Tara, the young woman, pressed her body against the wall, using her hair to cover her own face.

“I know her. She works at the Happy Garden. She’s the girl Anika tried to save some weeks ago.”

“Please, sir, don’t talk directly to her,” Avel pleaded. “I can answer for both...”

“As you wish. Where is Valaky’s laboratory? What did they do to you?”

The boy sighed. “I cannot answer your first question, sir. But I can tell you that now we got powers we weren’t born with. Doctor Valaky turned us into Grisha. We’re the only three survivors, for now...”

“Two...” Klaus corrected him, a sad expression on his face.

Ben approached Aenya, who was still moving her hands over Lukas, almost hysterical. The Squaller put a hand on her shoulder. “Aeny... he’s gone...”

“No, I... I can save him... I...”

The young woman’s eyes went wet. “For every part I fixed... another one broke... I... I...”

Ben gently helped her stand up. He knew how hard it was to accept defeat, to her, how powerless she was feeling in that moment. 

Avel sighed, massaging his own freed wrists. “He couldn’t even eat, when they took us our meals... he let us eat his ration... he knew he hadn’t much time left...”

“Which kind of Grisha are you, now?” Lian asked, freeing Tara’s ankles.

The teenager stood up. “Oh, I’ve become a Tidemaker. Lukas is... was an Alchemi and Tara is...”

“Hush,” Kaz interrupted him. “Someone’s coming.”

The group took a defensive position, but they all relaxed once Kayla appeared on the threshold, a flint in her hand.

“Hi, everyone,” she said. “I see you found the experiments...”

“Yes,” Dirtyhands replied. “Unfortunately, one of them is dead, another one refuses to talk and the only one who’s willing to cooperate doesn’t know where Valaky’s laboratory is. Why are you here? Did anyone in the crew wake up?”

“No, no. But it’s better to go now, I saw some suspect movements in the Harbour.”

“Fine. Did you hear, kids? Time to go.”

“Are we going to leave Lukas here?” Avel asked, while Klaus was helping Tara to stand up on her trembling legs.

“Not to be rude, but Lukas is dead, now,” Lian replied. “He would be a burden...”

“Not necessarily” Klaus said. He supported Tara by her waist with one of his huge arms, and he moved his free hand in the corpse’s direction.

Like a human puppet, Lukas opened his eyes and rose on his feet, much to Avel’s horror.

“Oh, Saints!” the boy screamed. “What kind of magic is...”

“He’ll follow us,” the blonde giant explained, smiling gently at the walking dead. 

“Don’t worry, Lukas. It will be for a limited time. We’ll take you out of here.”

“Yes... ” the corpse replied.

“SAINTS!” Avel cried, louder. “Did he just...”

“He did,” Ben answered, grabbing the boy’s arm. “But we must go now.”

They ran up the spiral stairs, blinking repeatedly once they reached the deck. The daylight wasn’t much brighter, but their eyes still took some time to get used to it.

Tara hid her face against Klaus’ shoulder, her trembling fingers clawed on his jacket, while Avel looked around, smiling at the sight of the fainted crew. 

“Wait,” Lian noticed. “Why is the Stadwatch here? So many Stadwatch members? Are they here for you, Kaz?”

“I highly doubt it,” Dirtyhands replied, frowning. “But better leaving this ship and the harbour behind as soon as possible.”

“They seem to have escaped from the hospital,” Aenya said, taking off her jacket and giving it to Avel. “Put it on and walk in the middle of the group. Hope they won’t notice they’re all barefoot and without pants...”

“Good idea.” Klaus offered Tara his huge jacket, which she wore silently, her glance glued to the ship boards under their feet, while Ben helped zombie Lukas to wear his.

“Hey, Kay,” the Ravkan said, once they walked off by Van Hoff’s ship. “What did you do when we were in the hold?”

The girl smiled. “Oh, I dismantled the helm and organized a little Treasure Hunt with the pieces. And checked some documents in the Captain’s cabin. There was nothing about their prisoners, everything was meant to be a huge secret. Not a surprise... hey, Kaz, is something wrong?”

The criminal was walking slower, looking at something on his right. Lian was the first to notice the problem.

“Stadwatch,” she whispered. “The one with... Saints, watch out!”

Ben barely managed to locate the man she was talking about, to see the rage and surprise glance on his cold, grey eyes, then, the man pulled out a gun and shot.

The bullet darted near to the Squaller’s ear, leaving a little excoriation on it.

Before the group could react in any way, several members of the Stadwatch surrounded them, aiming their weapons.

“What the fuck is happening?” Lian said, grabbing one of her knives. “Is this part of the plan?”

“You are under arrest!” one of the Stadwatch yelled.

“Excuse me, what?” Kayla replied. 

Ben exchanged a quick look with Klaus, who was standing by his side, shielding Tara with his huge body. They didn’t need to say a word to understand each other’s thoughts. 

The man had just spoken in Ravkan. Why should a Stadwatch member speak in Ravkan, there?

A cunning grin curved the Squaller’s lips.

“He said we’re under arrest, Kay,” he replied, smiling at the man. “Correct, sir?”

Before the imposter could open his mouth to reply, Ben raised his hands. A howling, strong wind caught their attackers, making them fly away and creating a huge, empty space on the pier.

“Ben, you also hit some civilians!” Lian scolded him, as they started running. “You sent them into water!”

“Hope for them they’re able to swim,” Kaz replied, ironic.

The sky had turned grey. Small raindrops started to fall.

_ What an ideal day to break my powers out _ , Ben thought. He took a quick look at Lukas, who was running along with them, with his emotionless face, his almost mechanical movements and his black, dead eyes.

The Ravkan felt a bit guilty, but he couldn’t help but find him quite comical.

The group reached the Wraith, which was moored next to a huge tourist ship, and Lian whistled thrice, sending the signal that something went wrong.

Inej’s crew immediately took the positions they were assigned, ready to cover them from enemy fire, while Dora and Adrien jumped on the pier.

“What happened?” the Suli asked, giving Kayla her bow and arrows.

“Well, these are the experiments and those people over there, who are obviously Valaky’s minions in Stadwatch clothes, attacked us” Ben explained. “Oh, and they’re coming for us again, now.”

“Wait, let me try!” Avel said, taking a few steps ahead and making a quick move with his hands. A water-made snake emerged from the sea, attacking their opponents.

A bright smile enlightened his face.

“Yes, it’s working!” he exulted. “Take this, you idiots!”

“I’m glad you’re having fun,” Kaz said, grabbing his thin shoulder. “But we definitely must go now. My mate’s crew is here to stop the ones that come from the pier.”

A disappointed expression appeared on the boy’s face, as they started running again, in the direction of the city.

Gunshot sounds and screams behind their backs. The raindrops were increasingly heavier.

Ben felt Adrien’s hand looking for his, so he took it. They had to reach the area of The  _ Demjin _ ’s Trick, where Xander, Jesper, Matthias, Inej and Wylan were positioned to cover them. 

The Wraith’s crew was doing an excellent job with the enemies on the pier, but Ben could see other Valaky’s minions coming from the city. Few of them wore the Stadwatch uniform, the others were wrapped in  _ keftas _ , leaving no doubts about their identities and abilities.

“We can’t do it” Adrien panted. “We’re going to collide with them before we reach the café area...”

“Have faith, Dree” the Squaller replied, smiling, trying to hide his concerns. His boyfriend was right, they were running into an open confrontation, but surrendering was not an option.

When they left the pier behind, two of fake Stadwatch soldiers reached them, guns in their hands. One of them shot twice: the first bullet left a superficial cut on Klaus’ shoulder, the second one hit Lukas in the middle of his forehead. 

The walking corpse fell to the ground, only to stand up on his feet again after a few moments, much to Valaky’s men's horror and surprise.

Aenya raised her hands and the attackers fell unconscious like two old ragdolls.

“Aenya cannot knock down all the ones who are coming” Dora said. “We need to find a way to slow them down...”

“I have an idea,” Kayla said, picking an arrow from her quiver, an arrow that looked slightly different from the others. 

“I hope the rain won’t make it fail,” she added, aiming her bow. “Adrien, get ready.”

“For what?”

“Just trust me.” She shot the arrow that drew a long arc into the air, and, without knowing what he was doing, Adrien raised his hands.

An explosion soon followed the young man’s gesture.

“Try to draw a line with the fire, Adrien!” Kayla screamed. “A line on the ground, to get in their way for a while!”

“Ben, he’ll need your help with the weather!” Kaz echoed.

The two boys obeyed, joining their forces to create a good obstacle to their enemies, gaining some time to reach the  _ Demjin _ ’s Trick. Ben created a giant air bubble, preventing the rain from wetting the ground, and Adrien drew a long fire line that soon turned into a fire wall. 

Kayla shivered at the sight of the red, burning flames, but she clenched her teeth and forced herself to look away.

The group kept running under the rain, while Valaky’s soldiers’ screams of rage reached their ears.

Luckily, the fire wall did its own job and, in the moment one of Valaky’s Tidemakers lighted it off, Ben and his companions stopped their run in front of the café. People all around fled away, screaming in terror, and Ben thought it was a good thing, at least they wouldn’t have hurt any innocent. Or well, any civilian, since he highly doubted there were many innocents in Ketterdam.

“Where did Valaky find all these helpers?” he asked, raising his hands, ready for the fight.

“Do you have any idea how many ships have moored here from Ravka, these weeks?”  Kaz replied, pulling a gun out. “Not to mention Van Hoff’s acquaintances. Hey, Xander!” 

The Fjerdan came out from his position, a rifle in his hands. “Yes?”

“You, Klaus and Lian will take the experiments, the living ones, to Van Eck’s home.”

“What?” Avel protested. “I can help! You saw what I did with my new powers!”

Dirtyhands narrowed his eyes, menacingly. “Don’t you dare to discuss my orders, kid. You’re useless, if you’re dead.”

“I can do it!” the boy said, and he ran away before everyone could stop him.

He easily defeated the first fake soldier who reached their position, wiping him away with another water-made snake.

“What an irresponsible kid,” Kayla commented, hitting one of their enemies with an arrow.

A Squaller flew over their heads, evoking a reel that almost caught Kaz, Dora and Aenya inside, but the bullet of a hidden sharpshooter, that was probably Jesper, sunk into his arm, making him retreat with a painful scream.

Meanwhile, Avel was trying to shoot a second attack with his water snake, when the Tidemaker that extinguished Adrien’s fire, a woman with long, dark hair, took control of the teenager’s creature, making it turn against his own creator and overwhelming him.

“Avel, go away from there!” Ben yelled, running towards the boy, who laid face down on the ground. Avel struggled to stand up, visibly shocked from the easy way his opponent defeated him, and tried to follow the Squaller’s advice, when a bullet hit him straight in his back, knocking him down.

Tara started to scream hysterically, fidgeting in Klaus’ arms, while Ben knelt down, next to the poor boy, praying to all the Saints.

“Please, please, please” he murmured, rolling the teenager on his side and checking his heartbeat. He was still alive, but he was losing much blood.

Bullets and magic attacks were flying over them, as Valaky’s soldiers shortened the distance from the Squaller’s companions.

A hand on his shoulder made him wince, but he sighed of relief when he saw Aenya by his side.

Xander, Kayla and Dora were watching over them, answering back to enemy fire.

“They didn’t hit any vital organs,” the Heartrender said, after a quick check. “But we must take him far from here.”

“Go with Xander, I’ll take your places,” Ben said, raising his voice so their friends behind them could hear.

Without saying a word, Xander knelt, in the exact moment Ben was standing up. The Squaller conjured several thunderbolts from the sky, creating a provisional wall to give the Fjerdan and the Heartrender time enough to take Avel and run away.

“We should refold too!” Kayla screamed. “We’re out of our sharpshooters’ range!”

“Good idea,” Ben replied, striking a soldier with a bolt and going back to the café position.

He thought it would have been a problem to convince Tara to follow Aenya, Xander and Lian, since she seemed to find something reassuring in clawing Klaus’ shirt, but, instead, at the sight of unconscious Avel in Xander’s arms, she parted from the young Necromancer and ran after them.

“Okay, the experiments are on the way to safety,” the Ravkan observed, exchanging a quick glance with Lukas’ fixed eyes. “Well... almost all of them... what do we do, now?”

“More Grisha are coming,” Dora said. “I don’t know how much we can resist...”

“We don’t necessarily need to resist,” Kaz replied, reloading his gun. “A diversion could be useful.”

“We would need a huge diversion” Kayla echoed.

Ben noticed Klaus was biting his own lower lip, a tense expression on his face. He closed his heterochromatic eyes, sighing, then he murmured, “I have an idea. It’s a horrible idea, but... Ade, I need your help...”

“Oh... OH!” the Inferni exclaimed. “It’s a very horrible idea. Let’s do it! I’ll just need a little sparkle...”

“I got a flammable arrow,” Kayla said. Her jaw was visibly stiffened and her hands trembled. Ben could see the terror on her eyes, through the dark lenses of her glasses. 

“Kay, you sure?”

The Zemeni girl took a deep breath, nodding. “Yes, I can do it.”

Gunshot sounds and bullets were filling the air. Jesper, Inej and Matthias were answering to the enemy's fire from the  _ Demjin _ ’s Trick roof, and Wylan was clearly waiting for an occasion to free his smoke bombs.

Ben thought their next move could put an end to the battle, but they had to be terribly accurate in doing it.

Klaus raised his hands: the soldier who Ben struck with his lightning bolt slowly moved on the ground, along with the other few fallen fighters of Valaky’s team.

The majority of their companions stopped for a while, looking at the scene with a horrified expression, giving Kayla time enough to aim her bow and shooting one of her special arrows.

The tip of the dart caught fire in mid-air, before sinking into one of Klaus’ walking corpses’ chest. At Adrien’s command, the fire soon spread all over the dead body.

Screams and imprecations soon followed, among the ranks of the enemies.

The corpse on fire started walking around, touching one of his dead mates’ fake uniform, lighting a flame which Adrien immediately made stronger. Soon, ten walking torches were hindering their own companions’ actions, spreading chaos and terror.

That was probably the moment Wylan was waiting for: the redhead man stood up on the roof of the café, throwing three small bombs at their enemies.

A dense, black smoke surrounded Valaky’s soldiers, who were already trying not to get killed by their own dead mates, coughing, their eyes burning.

Ben didn’t wait for a command: he simply raised his hands, making the smoke spread wider.

A sudden, opposite energy made him realize the Squaller who Jesper wounded shortly before was trying to contrast the smoke and, for several moments, his and Ben’s powers fought each other, until Dora’s hand gently touched the Ravkan’s arm.

“Ben!” she screamed. “It’s time to go!”

The boy simply nodded. He was so concentrated on his job he didn’t even realize he gave the others time enough to retreat.

He told her to jump on his back and, once he felt her arms around her neck and her legs around his waist, he rapidly turned around, quitting the confrontation and taking flight.

He soon found himself in the air, Dora’s light weight on his back.

The ground was further and further away, the roofs of the edifices looked like the upper parts of small toy cubes. He just left a very hard battle, but he didn’t feel tired. Not when he was into his true element.

A little smile curved his lips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First battle!   
> I really hope you're liking the story and the characters, I would gladly accept opinions 🙈  
> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Lynn


	9. KLAUS

The familiar aisles of the royal palace were quiet and coloured by a warm, reddish light. Through Emilie’s eyes, Klaus could feel the homely atmosphere of Ravka, his beloved Ravka. 

_ “It’s a big relief, to me, taking a breath from that sad, grey city,”  _ Emilie’s voice echoed in his mind.  _ “So... where do you think the king is, at the moment?” _

“He’s probably having breakfast in the dining room.”

_ “Fine, wait a moment, dear.” _

Reality around him went black for a while. Klaus knew he had to save as much energy as he could, since Aenya wasn’t there with him, being too busy to take care of little Avel. When the darkness faded away, the boy found himself into the huge dining room, where he had been invited more than once.

Two persons sat at the large dining table in the middle of the room, their plates filled with fragrant, delicious food. The older man had short, golden blonde hair, and he was drinking from a hot teacup, listening to his guest, a Shu man in his mid-thirties, who was describing the process of a new chemical experiment.

_ “Here we are,”  _ Emilie said.  _ “Look, there’s also your uncle Kuwei!” _

“Yes,” Klaus smiled. “Could you try to leave a message without getting noticed? I don’t want to interrupt him...” 

The ghost looked around, focusing her attention on a large bowl of  _ kasha _ , that laid next to a smaller, glass bowl filled with raisins and berries.

“Good idea,” Klaus told her, before she could actually show her intentions through their telepathic connection.

Trying her best not to catch the two men’s attention, Emilie used the raisins and the berries, one by one, to write a short message on the  _ kasha _ :  _ Mission update: two experiments saved. Looking for the lab. _

Klaus giggled inside, thinking of Nikolai and Uncle Kuwei’s possible reactions once they would have seen the sentences written on one of their breakfast dishes, and he was almost tempted to stay there few minutes more, when a sudden force started make his body jolt, breaking his connection with Emilie’s mind and calling him back into the living world.

Someone had removed the scarf that covered the upper part of his face and was shaking him by his shoulders.

Two big, hazel eyes, the first thing he saw once he awoke from his extra sensorial experience. Two widened, terrified eyes he knew well. Soft, chestnut brown locks fell on his face, gently tickling his pale skin.

The boy blinked confusedly, the energy he had just lost made his limbs tremble.

“T-Tara?” he panted. 

The girl let a suffocate cry out, parting her hands from his shoulders and bringing them to her face, hiding behind her own fingers. Her shoulders jolted, as she started sobbing. 

“Hey... w-what is it?” Klaus asked. “W-why are you...”

He suddenly realized the situation by himself: the door of his room was fully open and he was lying straight on the bed, hands crossed on his chest. Since he never moved and he breathed very slowly, when he travelled to other places through spiritual connection, the poor girl had probably thought he was dead. 

She didn’t know about his powers and she had certainly seen many people dying, those weeks. She had to be tired to be surrounded by death.

“I’m sorry,” the boy murmured, trying to prop up on his elbows. “It’s... it’s okay... I’m fine... I was just... using my powers...” 

A strong sense of dizziness made him fall on the bed again, so he simply stretched his arm towards her, touching her shoulder in a gentle manner. 

He tried to add something, when Aenya entered the room, a tired smile on her face.

“Hi, little brother” she said, sitting on the bed. “And hi, Tara. Is everything okay?”

The flower girl sniffled, trying to wipe out her own tears. She always had a wary glance on her eyes, but she didn't run away and accepted the handkerchief Aenya handed her.

“Sorry if I left you alone, during the spiritual connection” the Heartrender said, starting to move her hands over her brother's body. “Healing Avel had been a bit complicated. There are still echoes of the treatments his body suffered... oh, look, I also completely forgot about your wound...”

“It's okay,” Klaus replied, taking a quick look at the gauze that covered the cut on his shoulder. “It wasn't bad and Dora treated it in a little time. How is the boy now?”

He noticed Tara's jaw stiffening, when Aenya mentioned Avel's name, so he asked the question for her. 

“He's out of danger, he just needs some rest. Poor kid... I still wonder how many people... how many kids like him Valaky is still torturing...”

“Did the others find out anything about the location of his lab?”

The nineteen-year-old shook her head. “Inej's crew has been outside all night, but they found just a few possible clues that the others are trying to analyse... Ketterdam is a large city and Valaky has always been good at hiding...”

“Maybe we should... join them...” Klaus said, once he was able to stand up. “Uh, Tara... should you need anything, we're in the dining room... do you remember where it is?”

The flower girl nodded, then, she turned her back and slowly reached the window, looking outside.

Klaus exchanged a sad glance with his sister, wondering how many horrors that poor girl had faced those weeks, then, they walked away, hand in hand.

“Do you know which kind of Grisha she is, now?” Aenya whispered suddenly, while they were going downstairs. “Avel hadn't time enough to tell us...” 

The blonde shook his head. “She hasn't shown any particular ability yet. Maybe she simply refuses to use magic... I would completely understand it...”

They reached the dining room, where all their team members were reunited, discussing the few clues they had.

A large map of the city was placed on the dinner table and, over it, Kayla, Dora and Xander, were indicating some possible locations. They were the ones who seemed to resist the most to frustration and tiredness, even though their desperate glances suggested they were going to explode by moments.

Lian was silently sitting on a chair, arms and legs folded, an angry expression on her face. Ben was walking around the room, showing clear signs of impatience, and Adrien was snorting, drumming his fingers on the table.

“Any news?”

Kayla removed her glasses, rubbing her eyes with her free hand: “The most interesting news, here, is that Jesper and Matthias are going to the bakery at this moment. Inej and Kaz are probably in the Barrel, right now, and Nina and Wylan are still sleeping. About the mission... nothing.”

“And Valaky has a hawk,” Xander added, making the two sibling frown.

“A hawk?” Klaus repeated.

The Fjerdan boy nodded. “When we buried Lukas, I noticed he had a weird, old wound on his leg. Only the beak of a hawk can leave such a sign.”

“Our mad scientist has a pet, then” Aenya commented, with a little smile. She approached the young strategist and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Did you sleep tonight, Kay?” 

“No, she didn’t,” Dora replied. “I bet none of us slept well, tonight, but Kay hasn't even closed her eyes for a few minutes.”

“We're so close to the solution, I'm sure!” Kayla protested. “It's so frustrating! The city is so big, Valaky could be literally everywhere! If only we had a specific area to concentrate on... if only... if only...”

She hid her face behind her hands, sighing. 

Aenya hugged her from behind and, seeing Kayla's change in attitude, Klaus guessed his sister had just used her powers to give her some relief.

“It's okay” the Heartrender whispered, parting from the younger girl and raising her hands. “Take a deep breath. All of you. We're all tired, I know, but I'm sure we will find a way to fix this situation.”

The teenagers' features relaxed. Lian untied the knot of her arms and Ben stopped his nervous walk, approaching Klaus and giving him a friendly pat on his back. 

“So” Adrien said, once everyone felt a bit better. “There are some areas we can exclude, aren't them?”

“The Golding and the Financial District,” Xander said. 

“The North-Eastern part of the city in general,” Lian added. “But we still got a very large area to work on...”

Klaus took a look on the map: “I think we can also exclude the area around the Black Veil. Many people have died in Valaky's lab. I would have felt something weird, if it was located there...”

“So, Black Veil area out... what about...”

Words died in Kayla's throat when Tara's figure appeared on the threshold of the room. She stared at the group for some moments, nervously tormenting her own fingers. Klaus gave her a little smile. 

“Hi, Tara. Do you need anything?”

The girl bit her own lips, lowering her glance to the floor. She was wearing a long, green dress that reached the tips of her feet. 

Lian opened her mouth to add something, when Tara approached the table with an insecure walk, peeking at the map. Her lips trembled.

She looked each member of the young team into their eyes, until she met Klaus'. The boy gently caressed her shoulder.

“We're trying to find out where Valaky hides... I know Kaz asked you before, but... don't you have any clue about the location of the laboratory?”

Hearing the scientist's name, the flower girl took a step behind, covering her mouth with her hands, terrified. She closed her eyes and started to shake her head, almost hysterical. 

“Hey, hey... it's okay, calm down...” Aenya murmured, cupping the other girl's cheek. 

“You're safe now...”

“Unfortunately, other people aren't as lucky as you,” Dora echoed, her voice quiet and kind, but sad. “We don't want to torment you, Tara... but if you only have even a single, small element to help us... maybe there are still some people that can be saved...”

The young woman wailed and sobbed, her eyes fixed on Aenya's shoes. Klaus had no idea if his sister was trying to calm her with her Heartrender powers, but, if she was, she surely was struggling a lot. The mind was always harder to cure than the body. They were all probably thinking to give up, when Tara parted from Aenya, took some deep breaths and approached the table again. She looked at the map for some moments, silently, then, her index finger touched the paper, moving over an area near East Stave.

“The Happy Garden” Lian commented. “You work there...”

“Oh... OH, wait!” Kayla exclaimed. “She's trying to remember the path her kidnappers took after they caught her!”

Tara's lips were moving, but no sound came out of them. Her finger drew a straight line.

“Tatiana was one of the kidnappers, so they probably moved into the air, flying” Aenya said.

The flower girl didn't turn her head at her, but nodded. She stopped her move for a moment, once she reached Fifth Harbour, then, she pursued.

“They left the mainland...” Xander murmured. “Flying over the sea...”

“Yes,” Ben echoed. “Going straight to... oh, Saints...”

“Hellgate?” Adrien frowned. “It seems she's drawing a path to Hellgate...”

Kayla's brown eyes widened. “Not Hellgate... but... oh, yes! Yes! It makes sense!”

Tara winced, but didn't take a step behind, this time. She drew a circle around Hellgate area, looking at the teenagers with a painful but resolute glance.

“There are some small islands there,” Dora said. “And the zone is quite isolated...”

“And it's dangerously near to a high security prison,” Ben commented, hugging Adrien from behind and resting his own chin on his boyfriend's shoulder.

“Guys... guys we got a direction,” Kayla's voice was trembling, due to emotion. “We know where to look now!”

“Inej's crew or the Dregs can do some research there,” Aenya suggested. 

Lian jumped down from her chair, a bright smile on her face. “Yes! I'll immediately go to tell Aunt Inej what we found out!”

“What did you find out?” a familiar, male voice asked from the threshold of the dining room.

Jesper and Matthias' tall figures entered the room. The Fjerdan giant was carrying two hot, deliciously scented paper bags in his huge hands. 

The Shu girl immediately ran into her father's arm. “We know where to look at, now! We know where Valaky hides!”

“Really?” Jesper exclaimed. “How? Where is that piece of shit?”

“Tara remembered the direction her kidnappers took,” Klaus explained, approaching his father with a smile and helping him with the bags. “His lab must be in one of the small islands around...” he instinctively hesitated. “Around... Hellgate...”

“Oh...”

Matthias lowered his ice blue eyes to the floor, his jaw stiffened. Jesper gave a gentle pat on his large shoulder and Aenya immediately hugged him.

Klaus would have done the same, if only he hadn't both his hands occupied by the bags from the bakery. Ben probably guessed at his thoughts, so he approached his friend and smiled, “Give me these, mate.”

“I'm fine...” the Fjerdan man said, when his son joined the hug. He placed a kiss on both his children's foreheads. “It's all okay, pups... it makes sense.”

“Thank you, Tara, for helping us,” Jesper said, smiling at the young woman. “I can imagine how hard it must be for you...”

The flower girl nodded shyly, slowly walking away, her attention caught by something on the opposite side of the room.

“Okay, so,” Adrien said, opening one of the bags. “We got the area. We just need to locate the exact place and then... we'll be able to elaborate a plan...”

“And catch that bastard...” Ben added.

“And free his prisoners,” Kayla finished, smiling at the sight of ten delicious croissants.

Klaus struggled to hide a giggle of joy. They were finally close to the solution.

Of course, the mission hadn't ended, there was still a dangerous part left: entering the lab and catching Valaky. There would have been a battle, for sure. And they would all have been in danger. But the recent discovery filled him and his friends with a fierce sensation of joy they hadn't felt for a while.

All their concerns and anxieties could wait, for some moments. Now, they had huge news to tell Kaz and the other Crows, and a wonderful breakfast that was only waiting for them.

He turned his head, smiling, opening his mouth to ask Tara if she wanted to join them, when his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

“For Ghezen's socks...” Lian murmured, behind him.

The flower girl, unaware of the surprised glance fixed on her, was sitting on the floor, a beautifully painted flower pot, the one Jesper bought for his mother-in-law's birthday, in front of her. Into the flowerpot, there were some white, red and pink roses, most of them hadn't fully bloomed yet.

Her hands were moving harmoniously and, at her command, the roses immediately blossomed, growing and, eventually, starting to move, like enchanted snakes, following a silent rhythm created by her fingers. 

  
  
  


There was a quiet atmosphere in the garden of Van Eck's mansion.

The heavy rain of the previous day seemed to be just a distant memory to Klaus, who was lying on the grass, staring at the cloudless sky.

It had been a habit, for the team, relaxing in the garden when they had some time to rest from the mission. Sometimes, they sat or laid there, without talking, just staying close to each other, living together their moments of quietness.

The boy sighed, turning his head to look at his friends: only Kayla and Aenya were absent, being busy to tell the adults what they discovered; Dora, Lian and Xander were sitting not far from him, talking quietly, while Ben and Adrien were walking around the garden, hand in hand, the Inferni's head rested on the Squaller's shoulder.

They reached the nearest border of the field, then, they went back, slowly approaching their friends. It was when they were just a few steps from Klaus that Adrien suddenly stopped, cupped Ben's face with his hands and slightly stood up on his toes, sharing a sweet kiss with him.

Klaus smiled, turning his glance back to the sky. He found himself wondering how it would feel, being in love with someone, sharing kisses... sleeping with someone's head on his chest...

When he looked around again, his eyes fell on the new element that had joined their quiet moments in the garden: Tara sat on the field, aloof, playing with her new powers. The grass all around her grew and decreased at her command, creating a curious choreography.

Klaus had never seen something like that: her abilities seemed to belong to a new kind of Grisha magic, something between Etherealki and Materialki. The boy found himself wondering if her job could have influenced the experiments.

He was thinking about asking Ismael and Emilie if they had ever seen or heard of Grisha like her, when Ben and Adrien sat next to him. The Squaller fingered the blonde's arm, a cunning grin on his face, “She's pretty, isn't she?” 

“What...” Klaus immediately blushed. “Yes, she... she's pretty... a good looking girl...”

“We couldn't help but notice you often stare at her,” Adrien giggled.

The young Necromancer propped up on his elbows, his cheeks bright red: “I don't stare at her... she's of Aenya's same age, I would never look at an older girl in... that way... and I just met her, you're two fools...”

His fellow Grisha laughed.

“Chill, man, we're just kidding,” Ben said, pinching his cheek. “You know, you're adorable when you blush.”

“My mama often tells my papa the same thing, that's a bit creepy, Ben,” Klaus replied, without hiding a little smile.

“Talking about serious stuff,” Adrien added, nodding at the flower girl. “What do you think she is, now? I mean, which kind of Grisha? Is she a Materialki or... something new?”

Klaus opened his mouth to reply, but words died into his throat when he saw Aenya and Kayla running towards them. Both the girls had bright smiles that enlightened their lovely features.

“The Dregs and the Wraith crew are starting their mission in the Hellgate area,” Kayla explained, reaching the group and sitting on the grass. “If everything will work, we could be ready to elaborate a plan this evening.”

“I could swear I saw a glimpse of satisfaction in Kaz's eyes,” Aenya echoed. “That sounds incredible. Oh, and there's a little surprise for all of us. Jesper made them for us.”

She picked a little sachet from one of the large pockets of her dress and she spilled the content on her own skirt. Klaus took a little peek: there were eight, small black chess pieces.

“There's one for each of us,” she explained, handing the first two to Lian and Dora. 

“These are for you: the bishops. Ben and Adrien, you got the Knights. Me and Xander are the Rooks. Klaus, you got the King, and Kayla...” She gave her friend the last piece, the most powerful. “The Queen is yours.”

Silence fell in the garden, while all the teenagers were pondering on the gifts they just received, the symbols of their bond as friends and teammates.

Klaus looked at his own: the little black, chess piece looked almost ridiculous, in his large hand. 

The King. One of the two most important pieces in the chessboard and yet the one who needed more protection.

Klaus knew there was something true about it. He had a unique, extremely powerful ability that could represent a decisive turning point, during a mission, but it often put him in difficulty. He just hoped he wasn’t going to represent a burden for his team, the next day… 

“So... it's official,” Ben said. “We even got a symbol that represents each of us. Does our team have a name?”

“The Black Pieces, I guess,” Lian answered, admiring the bishop's chess on her hand.

The Squaller let a little laugh out: “You know... this is the first time that I’ve been part of something like this. I went from no family to... us...”

Adrien rested his head against the older boy's shoulder, interweaving their hands. “We're a very unique kind of family...”

“Oh, talking about this,” Kayla intervened. “I know a lot about you, but not how each of you met the others. Well, of course, apart from Aenya, Klaus and Lian...”

Adrien giggled. “You might find this funny, but Jesper and my mum almost dated, more than twenty years ago. They were at the university together and he promised to take her out and offer her some waffles...”

“But he never did,” Lian continued. “At least, he never offered her waffles for a date, since they were both in other relationships, when they started talking again.”

“I didn't expect this,” Kayla laughed. “And what about you, guys?”

Xander shrugged, a shy smile on his lips: “I met Aenya and Klaus when we were kids. My father had been the Fjerdan royal ambassador for years... before losing his job… he… drank... after my mother's death...”

“Xander... I had no idea, I'm so sorry...”

The boy nodded. “It's okay... I still have my sister and Dora and... all of you...”

Dora caressed his hand, then she smiled at Kayla: “Me and Xander met when I started studying at the Ice Court to become an ambassador. There was also my twin brother, with me, but, last year, he disappeared during a mission in Shu Han. He's still missing...”

Kayla instinctively took the Suli girl's free hand: “Dora, I...”

“I know he's still alive,” the young ambassador replied, with a smile. “I feel it. We're twin siblings, if something bad had happened to him, I would know it, somehow. I'll never stop looking for him.” 

Her hand reached the Zemeni girl's cheek, touching it gently, “And you, Kay? Don't you want to share your story with us?”

Kayla sighed, removing her glasses and resting them on her own lap.

“You're not obliged to do it, if you're not ready,” Aenya murmured, rubbing her friend's back with her warm hand.

The strategist closed her eyes for a while, then, a little smile curved her lips. “I never told it to anyone before, except for Kaz and Jesper. But, you know... even though I met you some days ago, I feel a special connection with each of you. It's something I never experienced before. So... yes, I will tell you my story.”

No one was moving, nor letting a sound out, in the garden. Tara was the only one who moved, walking barefoot on the grass, a few metres apart from the group.   
Kayla hesitated for a moment, then she sighed, starting to narrate: “There aren’t… uh… tragedies or unbelievable stuff in my story… but, when I was eight, something left my soul… scarred... ”    


She paused for a moment, looking for Aenya's hand. “I was eight. My sister was born a few months before and our parents had taken us to Ketterdam, to visit an old friend of my mum, Aunt Josephine. 

“One day, I woke up early and decided to make a surprise for my family, so I furtively got out of my aunt's home and walked to the bakery shop that was a few metres away. I wanted to buy them something good for breakfast. On the street, I met three kids, two boys and a girl, all of them slightly older than me. They stopped, looking at me in a confused way. I didn’t feel scared or uncomfortable, I never had problems with other children before, so I said hi to them. As an answer, they pointed at my left eye. They asked, in a not very friendly way, what was… this,” she touched the white skin that surrounded her eye. 

“You know… I had never met anyone who looked at me in that way… like… like there was something bad in me. I tried to explain them, but they kept on insisting with very rude questions and words, making me uncomfortable. I tried to walk away, ignoring them, and then… and then I heard a gunshot sound. That was soon followed by many others. Before I could realize it, I soon found myself dangerously near to a fight between two criminal bands, in the middle of the street. Without thinking twice, I entered the nearest open shop, that sold carpets, trying to find a shelter. The owner of the shop screamed something and then…”   


She took a deep breath, holding Aenya's hand tight. It seemed to give her some relief.    


“And then… and then they started to throw each other bombs… and a bomb ended up into the shop… the explosion wasn’t extremely powerful, but it still had been strong enough to throw me away and make me lose my senses for a while. And when I woke up… I was surrounded by flames… most of the carpet was on fire… my eyes burnt, I couldn’t stop coughing, I felt weak, scared and confused, I wasn’t able to think lucidly… and I thought I would have died…”   


She paused again. Aenya gently caressed the younger girl’s cheek with her free hand and Kayla closed her eyes, a little, grateful smile on her lips.    


“It’s okay, Aeny… I’m fine… luckily, my father saved me. I saw him entering the shop, with another tall, well built man. He didn’t seem to care about the flames. He took me into his arms, while the other man saved the shop owner, and he brought me out of that Hell. He suffered from a huge burn on his leg, but he barely noticed it. All his thoughts were only for me. We both physically recovered, but… well, you saw how I behave when I am near to fire… and… I don’t know if that makes sense, but, when I was on the outside and I noticed people staring at my vitiligo, my mind immediately came back to that day… to all that followed my unpleasant dialogue with those kids… that’s why I prefer to keep it hidden behind my glasses, now…”   


Klaus had the impression everyone in the group was holding their breath, like him. He wanted to say something, he wanted to prove Kayla his affection and support in any way, when, suddenly, Lian jumped into the taller girl's arms, hugging her.

“I'm so sorry I doubted you!” she sobbed. “I had been so... insensitive, and selfish, and...”

“Hey, it's okay, dearie. You couldn't know. I am so happy I could finally share my past with someone else...”   


In a few moments, all the young members of the Black Pieces were around Kayla, all together in a group hug.   


“It’s comprehensible” Dora finally said, once they all parted. “Mental association. Some hours before my brother disappeared, we ate spicy chicken. It was a dish we both loved. Now, I cannot even bear the smell of spicy chicken.”   


“Yes, it absolutely makes sense” Adrien echoed.    


Kayla smiled, sharing an affectionate glance with all of her teammates: “Thank you. Really.”   


“Can I ask you a question?” Lian suddenly said.    


The tall girl nodded. “Tell me.”    


“How did you meet Uncle Kaz?”   


The smile on Kayla’s lips widened, an amused expression on her face. “Oh, this story is somewhat funny. Five years after the accident, I came back to Ketterdam with my mother. One morning, I was going to the grocery shop, when I saw this man limping on the sidewalk. A sudden thought stuck into my mind: I had seen him before. He was there, five years before. I saw him, through the window of the carpet shop, among the fighters. I am not quick to anger, but, in that moment, I felt furious. One of those criminals was there, walking quietly on the city streets. I suddenly felt the necessity to make him pay, somehow. I couldn’t attack him, of course, so I did the first thing that came into my mind. I approached him and stole his wallet. He gave me the impression that he cared a lot about money and I also thought it would have been the right punishment, since he ruined the business of the poor shop owner. I don’t know, I never did anything like that before, my parents would have disapproved, but…”

“Wait, what?” Lian exclaimed. “You stole Uncle Kaz's wallet?”

“I impulsively tried to teach him a lesson… at that moment, in my mind it made sense... ”

The group stayed silent for a while, then, they all burst into laughter.

“I cannot believe it!” Aenya cried. “I would pay like... everything, to see such a scene!”

“He was shocked and furious,” Kayla added, almost breathless. “And also impressed. I ran away and he took a while to catch me. And when he did it, he offered me to join his Dregs. I refused, of course. But we met again last year, when I came here to attend the university, and we had more than occasion to talk, sitting at the university café. And now… here we are.”    


Aenya took the girl’s hands in hers: “You know… I’m sure all of us are happy you and uncle Kaz started talking last year, because it led you to meet us… I hope it’s the same for you…”

Kayla nodded, her smile beautiful and bright, “I am.”

Looking at her, at his sister and then at his friends, Klaus was filled with strong feelings, overwhelmed by emotions he never felt before. He didn't know if he should believe or not in destiny or things like that, but he was sure about a thing: they were all meant to find each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in this chapter we discovered the kid's backgrounds, especially Kayla's. And we got Nikolai and Kuwei's cameos!  
> From the next chapter, we'll be thrown into the clue of the action and the Crows and the Black Pieces will meet great difficulties.  
> Hope you'll enjoy the story until the epilogue <3  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Lynn


	10. LIAN

_ The Wraith _ was sliding on the water, fast and silent as a shadow.

Ben stood on the bow, his hands raised, surrounding them with a thick, silver mist. It was hard to see, but the helmsman hadn’t much to care. Klaus was by his side, and the ghosts the boy could talk to were suggesting him the direction to take.

Lian couldn’t help but imagine Captain Ismael walking on the foredeck, strong and confident, leading them through the blonde Grisha’s voice. She rested her elbows on the wooden railing, looking ahead: the final part of their mission had finally begun.

The previous day, Inej’s crew had located the little island where Valaky was hiding: it was several miles from Hellgate and it didn’t even have a proper name. A family of merchants, the Jansens, used it as a storage area several decades before, but it was eventually abandoned. 

There was a single edifice on the island, a large and grey square building with two upper floors and two underground. It was a perfect place for a mad scientist to hide.

Lian sighed, forcing a smile when her fathers approached her.

“Are you nervous, little one?” Jesper whispered, his long arm around his daughter’s thin shoulders. “You haven’t spoken a single word since we came onboard the ship...”

“I’m fine,” she lied. “Don’t worry, Da. I can’t wait to start.”

“We know you're an enthusiast,” Wylan said, gently touching her cheek. “But we also know you, love, and we can see when something’s wrong.”

The girl sighed, lowering her glance to the sea below.

“It’s just... the people I love the most are risking a lot, these days. And during the battles we fought, we were still in the city, we had several ways to escape. Now we’re going into the enemy’s base, on a lonely island...” she clenched her fists. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I... I don’t want to lose you...”

She bit her own lips, squeezing her eyelids to hold the tears back. She hid her face on Jesper’s chest, hugging him by his waist.

Wylan hugged her from behind and Jesper’s arms surrounded both. They stayed like that for several minutes, until the warmth of that embrace wiped away the girl’s tears.

“You will never lose us, love,” Jesper said, once they parted. “Me, Dad Wy, our friends... we will always find a way to stay by your side.”

“Say it louder,” Wylan echoed. “A bond like ours is forever. And that means...” he added, a cunning grin on his face. “Dad Jes will have to bear me for a long time. As a human or as a ghost.”

“Oh, no, your ghost would be terrible to face! Playing the flute all day and all night long to drive me mad! And I couldn’t even do... this!”

He removed Wylan’s glasses in a single, quick move, and, before the redhead could protest, he kissed his lips, long enough to let his husband kiss him back.

Lian giggled, taking a look all around the ship: many of her teammates were sharing some tenderness, taking advantage of the quiet before the final battle.

Nina and Matthias, no surprise, were kissing passionately, the woman’s back pressed against the wall of the Captain’s cabin. Inej had left her helmsman in Klaus’ hands to have a moment with Kaz: they leaned on the opposite railing, side by side, their foreheads touching.

Adrien and Ben, who had finally left his position on the bow, were sitting on the wooden steps that led to the foredeck, talking to each other in a low voice, their hands interweaved, and sharing some kisses.

The rest of the team was in the cabins inside, probably playing cards. Lian had noticed Dora was wearing a new scarf, a present from Kayla, who took it from Van Hoff’s ship.

_ I love them all,  _ the sixteen-year-old thought.  _ They’re my friends. They’re my family. I must protect them at every cost. _

The unpleasant grip on her stomach went back once the ship reached the island.

The land was dry and dusty, a grove made of dark, dead trees surrounded a square, grey building that was barely visible, through the mist, in the distance.

The group shared the last hugs and kisses, then, Kaz ticked the tip of his cane on the wooden floor of the main deck.

“The last part of our mission starts now. No possibilities to go back before it ends. You all know the plan: play your role well.”

  
  
  


The grove was slightly thicker, on the west side of the island, the position Lian reached with Inej and Dora.They were going to deal with the documents of Valaky’s illegal activities and, to do it, they were meant to enter the edifice from a window on the upper floor. But they needed the help of Wylan, Klaus and Nina, who had to create diversions to attract the scientist’s guards and minions in the west area.

In the shadow, the trio waited. Lian took Dora’s hand, who gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Something’s moving,” Inej said, finally. “Wait... do you hear that?”

The two girls closed their eyes, trying to catch the sound Inej was talking about. The sea waves. The weak wind blowing through the dead trees.

And then... a howling sound that was creepily similar to a woman’s cry.

“This must be Emilie...” Dora whispered.

“There are three guards,” Inej commented. “Two of them are following Emilie’s voice... and now, Wylan should...”

An explosion cut the woman’s phrase short. The third guard instinctively ran after his colleagues and, a few moments later, distant screams reached the three women’s ears, flying on the wings of the wind.

“Now!” Inej said, running towards the grey edifice. Lian and Dora followed her, a pair of knives in their hands. Inej would have climbed the wall with bare hands, but the two girls didn’t feel confident enough to emulate her.

“Here we are,” the woman smiled, once they reached the building. “Are you ready?”

Lian and Dora nodded.

The Shu girl was tormented by a grip on her stomach, and she was sure Dora felt the same, but she couldn’t give up.

Exploiting the conformation of the edifice, the splits and the protrusions between the stones that made up the wall, she followed her teammates in that crazy climbing, her knives sank deeply in the dry mortar, her shoes adhered perfectly to the vertical surface.

There were only two floors to climb, but Lian felt like she was climbing a huge mountain. And, for the first time in her life, she felt grateful for being so small.

“We’re almost there,” Inej announced, after minutes that seemed to be hours. “Come on, girls, we’ve almost made it!”

The sound of broken glass soon followed. Inej entered the building from the window, unsheathing her knives, and Lian guessed she found someone to fight into the room.

She let Dora go in first, giving a quick peek down, to check if anyone from the ground had noticed them. No one in sight.

Lian grabbed the stool, hoisting herself and following her teammates into the edifice: she found herself in a small, square room, with a couple of cabinets and a large desk inside. A man laid unconscious on the floor. Inej had been able to knock him down without using her lethal blades.

“Hey, ladies!” Dora called. “Come here and take a look!”

She had opened one of the drawers of the desk and she was examining some booklets she found inside. “There’s something good, here. And I bet there’s something even better in those cabinets.”

Lian approached the couple of lockers and tried to open them: “You must be right. They’re safely locked.”

She brought one of her special pins from the pocket of her jacket and smiled. “Well... time to let them breathe a bit...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was shorter than the others, but we're now fully into the action!  
> Hope you liked it, thanks for reading!
> 
> Lynn


	11. KAYLA

The exhaust tunnel looked claustrophobic and abhorrent. When she saw Kaz and his group entering it, proceeding almost crouched and with a disgusted expression on their face, Kayla felt lucky for her role in the plan.

She was going to free Valaky’s prisoners along with Jesper, Matthias and Xander. They were going to face an open confrontation, but, to her, it was much better than entering the edifice through the disgusting exhaust tunnel.

She noticed Matthias’s jaw stiffening, when Aenya disappeared into the tunnel with Kaz, Ben and Adrien, so she tried to comfort him by rubbing his large shoulder.

The Fjerdan answered with a smile and gentle pats on her hand. “Thank you,” he murmured. “It’s okay. I must have faith in my family.”

Next to him, Jesper smiled too, unsheathing his precious guns. He didn’t seem to be comfortable, staying hidden and still among the rocks on the northern coast, but he was trying his best to look positive and confident.

Xander was sitting quietly on a rock, looking at a couple of seagulls that flew over their head, lost in his thoughts. Kayla couldn’t help but wonder if he was still thinking about Dora...

The sudden sound of an explosion awoke her from her thoughts: Wylan, Nina and Klaus had just started playing their roles.

“Now!”

The four ran out of their hiding place, straight towards the back of the edifice. Their opponents’ attention had to be focused on the eastern zone of the field that surrounded the building, but they couldn’t let their guard down.

“The back door!” Jesper said suddenly, stretching a hand and rapidly moving his fingers. “I can see it!”

With no sound, the door he pointed at opened, allowing them to stop their running once they entered the edifice, finding themselves in an empty atrium, with peeling, dirty walls.

They stood in silence for a while, their ears open to catch every single sound. Kayla rubbed, with her thumb, the fletching of the arrow she nocked, taking a few steps ahead.

There was a large, rectangular threshold, on the opposite wall. It had to be locked by two doors, once, but they had clearly been removed years before.

“I can see a couple of staircases,” she murmured. “One takes to the lower floors. It’s our direction.”

“I’ll go first,” Jesper replied, his right hand clenching one of his guns, the left one free, ready to let Grisha magic go, in case of need.

Kayla and the two Fjerdans followed him, their senses sharpened. When they reached the first underground floor, Kayla had to remove her glasses and put them in a pocket of her jacket: there wasn’t much light, there. And the lowest floor seemed to be even darker.

“Do you have a flint?” Jesper whispered, going down to the second staircase. “The lightning system is terrible, here...” 

“Yes, Xander and I got a couple of flints,” Matthias replied. “Wait...”

A few moments later, a greenish light enlightened their way: at the end of the staircase, Kayla could see a door that once had to have been white. 

“The prisoners must be over there,” Matthias said. “According to what Avel said this morning... he talked about that door...”

Jesper moved his hand to release the lock, when the door opened and a man in a lab coat went out, stopping himself, shocked, when he saw two Zemenis and two Fjerdans standing on the stairs, each of them carrying a weapon.

He yelled something in Ravkan, something that Kayla wasn’t able to translate and yet guessed from his reaction, and he tried to unsheathe a gun he carried on his belt, but Jesper was faster and he made the door move, hitting the man and making him fly backward. He landed on the grey floor of a long aisle and the gun fell several metres from him, shooting a bullet upwards, at the ceiling.

Some cries of surprise reached the rescuers’ ears, giving them a confirmation: the people Valaky kidnapped were over there.

Twenty cells, ten on the right and ten on the left, faced the aisle. Kayla could see human hands clenching the bars.

“The prisoners!” she exclaimed.

“We have to hurry,” Xander echoed. “Someone’s coming!”

“Cover me” Jesper ordered, entering the hallway. Valaky’s man tried to stand up to attack him, but the Fabrikator punched him on his face, knocking him unconscious.

Bad noises from the upper floor started to approach: some of Valaky’s minions had surely heard the gunshot sound and they were coming to check.

Kayla and Matthias placed in front of the door, rifle and bow aimed.

Behind them, Xander threw Valaky’s man into an empty cell, while Jesper started using his powers to disrupt the iron bars that kept the kidnapped people prisoners.

Human shadows appeared at the top of the staircase, followed by the armed figures of Valaky’s soldiers.

Kayla killed the first with one of her arrows, while Matthias shot the second and the third.

Their opponents stopped, taking a few steps behind to reach a protected position.

“They don’t know how many of us are here,” Matthias whispered. “But they’ re going to block us the way... Jesper, how are things over there?”

“We got seven people here. I freed all of them, now we only have to go out of here.”

Kayla didn’t dare to take a peek, she couldn’t lose the focus on the staircase.“This is the only way,” she said, biting her own lips. Jesper and Xander sided the girl and the blonde giant.

“Well,” the Fabrikator sighed. “I guess we’ll need to free our way, then. Xander, Kayla, protect them.”

The girl nodded, taking a step behind and looking at the people she was going to save: four men and three women. The oldest of them was a woman around sixty, the youngest was only a kid, who couldn’t be older than ten.

They were all dirty and scared, but, except for one, a middle aged, skinny, kaelish man, they all seemed in good condition, good enough to walk on their legs.

Xander offered himself to carry the weaker man on his large back, making him wrap his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist, then he gave Kayla a quick nod.

“Okay, uhm...” the girl said. “We’re going to take you out of here, but you must stay behind, so we can protect you, okay?”

The prisoners nodded, trembling. They were grateful, but also aware the mission could end up as a disaster.

“Hey, Kay!” Jesper called. “Could you lend me one of your arrows?”

“Sure... what do you have in your min- oh, okay, I probably know your intentions...”

The man winked, taking the arrow she was handing him and using his powers to make it fly over the staircase. Terrified, surprised screams soon followed.

“Let’s go!” he yelled, starting to run on the stairs.

Matthias and Kayla immediately followed him, while Xander and the experiments closed the queue.

Jesper’s move granted the group time enough to reach the upper floor, where four soldiers were trying to escape a flying arrow soaked in blood. Their six mates were already on the floor.

One of them was finally able to hit the arrow with a bullet, ripping it in half, so he and his mates could try a last, desperate attack, forming a line and shooting their last shots.

Kayla heard Matthias letting out a painful hiss, next to her, and, soon after, a bullet opened a cut in her right cheek, also slightly wounding her ear.

Jesper raised both his hands and, immediately, the enemy bullets stopped into mid-air, before being thrown back at the ones who shot them.

With a few sounds, their last opponents collapsed on the floor.

Kayla immediately looked around, checking her teammates’ conditions. “Is everyone alright? Matthias, are you...”

“I’m fine,” the Fjerdan giant panted, with a small, reassuring smile on his lips. He was clenching his own left arm, that was bleeding but not in a disturbing way.

“Nothing serious.”

“Wait.”

Jesper quickly wrapped a handkerchief around his friend’s huge arm, pinching affectionately his bearded cheek once he finished. “Here we are. We can go now.”

They ran up the second staircase, reaching the ground floor and leading the rescued to the back door they used to enter the building.

Suddenly, when Kayla, who closed the queue, went through the threshold, her feet already on the field, a thrill ran down her back, making her turn around.

A figure stood on the staircase that led to the upper floor: it was a man in his forties or fifties, wrapped in a Materialki  _ kefta _ . He had silver-grey hair and sharp, familiar features. Features she saw more than once, drawn on Kaz’s documents.

The girl’s heart lost a beat.

“Valaky!” she yelled. “There’s Valaky!” 

She knew it could be wrong, deviating from a plan she in person helped to organize, but she couldn’t let go of an occasion like that. She was going to take an arrow from quiver, when, suddenly, her bow seemed to bring life, violently tugging her hand.

“What the...”

She lost the grip on her weapon and, in a few moments, she found the string pressed against her neck. Her bow was trying to strangle her!

“Kay!”

Xander rapidly reached her and, with the blade of a knife he was carrying on his belt, he cut the string. The bow fell on the ground, inanimate.

Kayla took a deep breath, clawing the Fjerdan’s jacket, and she was about to thank him, when she felt him wincing, a suffocated cry came out of his mouth.

“Xander! What is it?”

He clenched his teeth, hissing: he was pressing one of his large hands against his left side, while his knife was on the ground, the blade wet with blood.

“M-my knife,” he stuttered. “It... had moved by itself for a while and hurt me...”

“Oh, no, let me see!”

“Kids!” Jesper yelled, reaching them. “What are you doing? Me and Matthias had almost reached the coast, when we turned around and didn’t see you... Xander, you’re bleeding!”

“It’s just a scratch,” the Fjerdan panted. “There was Valaky...”

The Zemeni’s eyes widened: “What? Where?”

“On the staircase... but he’s gone now” Kayla said, helping Xander to press his wound. “And he... he attacked us, with Materialki powers...”

“WHAT?”

Jesper clenched his dark curls with his long fingers: “Shit, he did it then... I must tell Kaz and the others who are looking for him... Kay, can you help Xander to go back to  _ the Wraith _ ?”

The girl nodded. She picked her bow up from the ground, then, she surrounded her own shoulder with the blonde’s huge arm.

“Be careful, Jesper,” she said, before walking away.

Luckily, the wound on Xander’s side wasn't too bad, so the boy was able to walk without burdening her too much.

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly murmured. “For your bow...”

Kayla smiled at him. “You saved my life. The bow can be repaired.”

They reached the coast, where Matthias was waiting for them, a worried expression on his face.

“The rescued are already on  _ the Wraith _ ... what has happened?”

“We saw Valaky,” the girl panted. “He used his serum on himself and now he’s a Materialki. Xander is hurt and Jesper is trying to warn Kaz and the others...”

“Oh my Djel...” the man murmured, making Xander lean on his huge, massive body. 

“Let’s take Xander on  _ the Wraith _ , then we’ll decide what to do...”

Kayla opened her mouth to reply, when a violent explosion in the western area of Valaky’s lab made her scream. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you're liking the action scenes.   
> I also made a little reference to MCU with the flying arrow 😉  
> Aaand we finally had a little glimpse of the villain. The next chapter will be... well, I suffered a lot writing it.  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Lynn


	12. BEN

The smell in the drainpipe was atrocious, but nothing compared to the path in the sewers they had to walk. Ben could swear he never smelled something like that before.

Even with a handkerchief pressed against his nose and mouth and Aenya’s attempts to keep their senses awake, he risked to faint more than once.

He closed the queue, Adrien in front of him. Ben could barely see him, in the weak light of Aenya’s flint, but he knew how much that disgusting walk was costing to his boyfriend, who hated dirty places more than everyone else and was terrified by the idea of illnesses and infections.

_ He’s so brave,  _ the Squaller thought.  _ So brave and strong. _

With his free hand, he gently touched the Inferni’s back, whispering, “You’re doing great, love. Hold on, I’m sure we’re almost there.”

“I hope so,” Adrien replied, moving one of his hands back to reach for Ben’s. “You’re doing great, too.”

“We’re at our destination,” Kaz said, finally. “Now everyone shut up.”

There was a long, dirty ladder against the damp wall. Trying to repress the disgust, the three followed Kaz, climbing for several metres, until the leader of the Dregs reached the top of it, opening a way.

A circular, strong flash of artificial light hurt the teenagers’ eyes for a while. Ben proceeded slowly, shielding his eyes with his forearm.

“Where are we?” Aenya’s voice asked.

Ben tried to focus the environment around him: they had emerged from the sewer in what had to be the boiler room. They were surrounded by a huge system of almost inactive pipes and, on the wall next to them, there was also a turned off furnace.

“First underground floor, boiling room,” Kaz answered.

The girl raised her eyes to the ceiling. “I can see it’s a boiling room. And don’t you dare to ask me why I asked it, then.”

Dirtyhands shook his head, then, he started limping in the direction of a rusty door. “Follow me. And get ready to fight. Wylan, Nina and Klaus are probably keeping a lot of Valaky’s minions busy, but we still won’t be alone with our man, in the edifice.”

They silently went out of the boiling room, finding themselves in a quiet aisle. They knew a bit about the structure of that place, since, the day before, Wylan had found an old map of the edifice, but they had barely any idea how Valaky had organized the space.

“At this time, Inej and the girls must have reached the highest floor, while the others should be on the way to the prisons,” the criminal guessed, as they walked stealthy, their senses ready to catch every suspect movement or sound.

It was when they almost reached the staircase that led to the ground floor that Kaz suddenly stopped. “Someone’s coming!” he whispered, stepping back and opening the first door he found. “Here!”

The three teenagers obeyed, while Dirtyhands stood on the threshold, peeking at the situation outside of the room.

“There’s a group of soldiers,” he said. “They’re going downstairs...”

“The prisons!” Aenya gasped. “My father, Uncle Jes, Kayla and Xander could be in danger!”

“We cannot deviate from the plan. And they’re all fully able to defeat such a small group of enemies. We must focus on our part of the mission.”

The girl glowered at him, but, before she could protest, Adrien put a hand on her shoulder. “They’re all great fighters. I’m sure they will be fine.”

“The soldiers are gone,” Kaz announced. “Aenya, do you feel anything?”

Aenya snorted, moving her hands. “Nothing for now,” she said, after a while.

“Fine, let’s go.”

They reached the staircase again, going up to the ground floor. They had to be in the south-west area of the edifice and, according to the map Wylan found, the ground floor looked like a labyrinth of halls.

Luckily, they could count on Aenya’s powers so, for several minutes, the search for the scientist was quiet, almost boring. However, it wasn’t going to last long. The sudden, loud sound of a siren made the group wince, covering their ears with the hands.

“What’s happening?” Adrien shouted, trying to speak over the deafening siren.

“My father!” Aenya screamed back. “Uncle Jes! They could have been caught, we must help them!”

“No!” Kaz yelled, as the girl was about running back. At that moment, the siren silenced, but three figures appeared at the end of the aisle.

Ben caught Aenya’s arm, but the girl had already stopped herself, widening her eyes. “Grisha!” she cried. “They saw us!”

Instinctively, before their enemies could realize the situation and run towards them, Adrien instinctively threw something between them and their attackers. Something that exploded, throwing the group backward and opening a huge hole in the floor.

“What the...” Ben stuttered, trying to stand up, blinking confusedly. He quickly reached his energies and mental concentration and he understood Aenya had used her powers on him.

“The bomb Wylan gave us,” Adrien panted. “Too powerful?”

“Don’t waste time,” Kaz replied. “They won’t take too long to recover.”

They started running, trying to distance Valaky’s Grisha as much as they could, and they had already reached the west area, when Kaz stopped himself, letting a surprised exclamation out.

Ben barely avoided crashing against the criminal’s back and focused on the environment in front of them. His attention was caught by a tall, human figure that was quietly going down the staircase that led to the upper floor.

He was a man in his forties or fifties, with sharp features, short, silver hair and cold, dark eyes. He was wearing a Materialki  _ kefta _ and didn’t look surprised to see them. At least, not as surprised as Ben was, seeing in person the face he only saw on drawings before.

“Igor Valaky,” Kaz said, a grin on his face. “The man who’s ruining my business. I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I would lie.”

Valaky calmly reached the floor, ignoring Kaz and looking at Ben, Aenya and Adrien.“Good morning, young Grisha,” he suddenly said. “Young mates. You shouldn’t be with this pathetic human.”

“This pathetic human is going to kick your ass,” Kaz replied, aiming a gun at the scientist. Adrien imitated his gesture, but their jaws dropped when Valaky raised his hands and the guns disintegrated at his command.

“Shit!” Ben swore. “He’s a Grisha, now! He’s a Materialki!”

Aenya tried to use her magic on their enemy, but Valaky let something fall on the floor, a small bomb that released a dark, thick, suffocating gas that made the teammates cough, falling on her knees.

“Stay behind!” Ben panted, using his powers to purify the air and dissipate the gas.

“He’s... gone!” Adrien said, trying to regularize his own breath. “Where did he go?”

“He ran ahead,” Kaz replied. “He didn’t go back to the staircase. And he mustn’t be far from here.”

“And his Grisha are coming,” Ben echoed, hearing angry voices in the distance.

“Go ahead!” Aenya shouted. “I can stop them. Go catch Valaky.”

Ben was tempted to protest, but he couldn’t risk letting the scientist flee, not when they were so near to catch him.

“Go straight ahead, after him,” Kaz said to the two young Grisha. “And when you reach him, try to distract him.”

“What are you going to do?” Adrien asked.

The leader of the Dregs replied with a gesture of his gloved hand, then he vanished into a secondary small aisle.

Ben took his boyfriend's hand and, after sharing a last glance with Aenya, they started running, while, behind them, the enraged screams of Valaky’s Grisha soldiers were approaching.

“Do you think... he’s already far away?” Adrien panted.

“Who knows...” Ben replied. “Maybe... maybe he...”

The words died into his throat. They stopped their run, widening their eyes, in disbelief: Igor Valaky, the mad scientist, stood still a few metres from them, like he was just waiting to be reached.

A sharp smile curved his lips. “Hello, young Grisha fellows. I’m glad to inform you that I did it.”

Ben and Adrien frowned. Why had he stopped his escape? Why was he talking to them like they were well welcomed guests?

“I did it,” the scientist repeated, grinning. His cold, dark eyes were filled with a light of crazed happiness.

He raised his hands, that led the two boys to expect an attack, but, instead, Valaky made some satisfied, harmonious gestures, as an invitation to admire the  _ kefta _ he was wearing.

“I dreamed about this all my life,” he continued. “Grisha magic is the highest expression of power and perfection. Human beings, powerless human beings, are weak and imperfect. That’s why my serum should be spread all over the world! At the beginning, I only thought about fulfilling my own dream, becoming a Grisha and living the rest of my life as I always wished, since I was a child. But now I realized... it isn’t enough. I need a new purpose in my life. Now I want to be surrounded by Grisha!”

“Well, Mister Valaky,” Ben interrupted him. “I actually know non-magic humans that could beat your now-Grisha ass like a drum. But we couldn’t expect a sensate speech from a mad scientist, so, okay, you told us your bullshit, now we’re going to stop your insanity and take you back to prison. Or kill you, if you won’t cooperate, it’s the same.”

“You’re all Grisha, like me,” Valaky replied calmly. “You should be proud of yourself and recognize the best example of perfection you are. I am trying to help the world, making it beautiful and...”

“Perfect, yes, we got it,” Adrien continued. “Don’t you think not every non magic human wants to be a Grisha? Don’t you think they could be happy without having magic powers?”

“This is because they can’t see what I see.”

His quiet attitude made Ben shiver. There was something scary in the way Valaky talked about his insane beliefs and the young Squaller somehow knew he would have felt less anxious, if his enemy had shown an aggressive behaviour.

“And they can’t also feel what I feel,” he continued. “Like the metal of a cane that is furtively approaching me from the room on my right side!”

He made a quick movement, followed by a male scream. Ben and Adrien widened their eyes, seeing Kaz being dragged out of the room, his hand clenched on his cane. He loosened his grip, trying to stand up on his foot, but Valaky took the occasion to turn the cane against his owner, hitting him hard on the face.

Kaz fell backward, against the wall, hitting his head and collapsing on the floor like a rag doll. 

“Kaz!” Adrien screamed, running to the unconscious man and kneeling next to him.

Valaky smiled, turning his attention to Ben again, “Is he one of the non-magical people you were talking about?”

The Squaller shrugged, trying to gain more time to think about a solution. “Well... actually I was talking about his significant other. She would kick your teeth like nothing.”

“Let me guess: is this woman in the edifice too?”

“No,” Ben lied, swallowing. “And if she was, I would definitely not tell you.”

“If she’s powerful as you say, despite being a mere non magic human, try to figure out what amazing Grisha she could be!”

_ Is this man able to talk about something else?  _ the eighteen-year-old thought. He was tempted to take a peek to check Kaz’s conditions, but he couldn’t lose eye contact with the scientist. He hoped Aenya was going to reach them soon.  _ What can I do? _

The air was still and dry, in the aisle. Ben hid his hands behind his own back, curving his lips in a fake smile.

“So, mister Valaky,” he started. “How can you tell the serum can be used on everyone? One of your previous successful experiments had died because of it...”

The scientist shrugged. “I didn’t know this. The conditions of that experiment were probably worse than I thought. But that means the other two are alive and well and look at me! I feel great! I’ll have to take some more experiments to be sure, but I’m definitely on a good way! But tell me, my Grisha mate,” his voice became sharp like a blade. “Didn’t your parents teach you? It’s very rude, using your Squaller powers to suffocate me while I’m talking.”

“Actually, I don’t have parents,” Ben started, before the silver necklace he wore wrapped tightly around his neck. He gasped, falling to the ground and fidgeting, desperately fighting against the lethal grip that tortured his throat.

He heard Adrien screaming, then, a powerful blaze enlightened the hall. The necklace immediately loosened its grip, so Ben could take some deep breaths, before trying to sit up. However, while he was propping on his elbow, Adrien fell over him, with a deep gash on his forehead.

“Dree!”

Ben held his boyfriend close, trying to stop the hemorrhage pressing the wound with the sleeve of his own jacket.

“He’s... running away...” Adrien murmured. “He took Kaz...”

“We’ll get him, love,” the Squaller voice broke. “Just try to resist for now...”

“Guys...”

A feeble, familiar female voice filled Ben’s heart with hope and joy. He turned his head. Aenya was limping towards them, her face exhausted, a large bloodstain soiled the right leg of her pants.

“Aeny! Are you hurt?”

“I was,” she panted, kneeling next to them and rapidly checking Adrien’s conditions.

“Where is Kaz?” she asked, healing the deep wound on the Inferni’s head.

Ben noticed the struggle it cost her.

“Aeny, what happened to you?” Adrien asked, once he could stand on his feet.

“I defeated all our enemies... but the last one shot me before dying... he hit one of my arteries and... I took a bit to cure myself... but... Kaz?”

“Valaky took him,” Ben replied, helping her to stand up. “We must find him. He’s a Grisha now. A Materialki, with extremely sharpened senses. And he wants to turn all the people in the world into Grisha.”

Aenya widened her ice blue eyes: “Wh... where did he go?”

“This way,” Adrien replied. “I saw him turning left at the end of the aisle.”

They didn’t take so long to find their man. Actually, Valaky seemed to be waiting for them, smiling into an open room, the only open, enlightened room of the hall.

He had a visible burn on the left side of his face, but he didn’t seem to care much.

“Welcome back,” he said. “I didn’t think the young Inferni would have recovered so soon... oh, that woman is a Corporalki! Now I understand! Please, come in, suit yourself!”

Before the three teenagers could react in any way, a long rope flew out of the room, wrapping them together and tugging them forward, forcing them to enter the room before falling face down on the floor.

Ben immediately realized they were in the core of Valaky’s lab, the room where he took his experiments. He couldn’t see ghosts, like Klaus, but he somehow had the impression to perceive the tormented souls of the people who lost their lives there.

They were surrounded by open cabinets, the shelves filled with documents, ampoules, ingredients and flasks.

In front of them, a huge table, where Kaz laid unconscious, a large bruise on his forehead and nose, where his own cane hit him.

Valaky knelt down, showing them a medium size syringe filled with a transparent fluid.

“See this? Few drops of this serum can change a life forever! Your friend is going to become one of us! Who knows which kind of Grisha he will be? Unfortunately, I haven’t discovered a way to select Grisha orders yet, but who cares, it might become one of my new future projects! For now... let Fate decide!”

The three teenagers started to fidget desperately, as Valaky ceremoniously approached the unconscious Kaz.

Ben noticed Aenya was trying to cut the rope with a small blade she kept hidden into the sleeve, so he decided to do again what he was very good at: distracting someone by talking.

“I’ve got a question,” he said. “Can it be a correlation, between what someone does in their life and the Grisha powers the serum will give them?”

A little spark of hope lightened up in his heart: Valaky stopped, turning his head and giving him his useful, creepy, cold smile that, with the burn on his face, made him even scarier. Luckily, the Squaller had guessed a main trait of the scientist’s personality. He had kept his work and project secrets for years and now he couldn’t stop talking about them.

“It’s possible,” Valaky said, the syringe in his hand. “I understood you got my successful experiments, so you probably noticed the young woman has powers that don’t belong to any known Grisha order. She worked in a flower shop and the serum made her able to manipulate plants. She’s not a Materialki. I think she’s part of a new class of Etherealki, isn’t it wonderful?”

“Sure!” Adrien replied, guessing his boyfriend’s intentions. “We should find a proper name for this new class! And who knows how many new orders can be created?”

“It’s something I’ll discover by keeping on with my experiments,” Valaky replied. “Starting... now!”

He turned rapidly, raising his arm to plant the needle of the syringe in Kaz’ flesh. The three teenagers screamed, Ben felt the grip of the rope loosening, the sign Aenya had been able to cut it.

They desperately try to stand up and stop the scientist, when the sound of a gunshot made them wince.

Valaky let the syringe fall to the ground, a bullet hole near to his right shoulder blade. He turned around, a surprised, painful expression on his face, while a familiar, male voice ordered. “Don’t you dare to touch him!”

Ben and his teammates smiled, sighing with relief. “Jesper!”

The Zemeni entered the room, his gun still aimed at the scientist, who tried to stand up clinging to the operating table where Kaz laid.

“I suggest you surrender, Igor Valaky,” Jesper said firmly. “Aeny, take care of Kaz, and you two, guys, destroy this place.”

“It will be a pleasure,” Adrien said. “We’ll erase every track of this insanity.”

Valaky collapsed to the ground, and, for the first time, Ben could see a glimpse of rage in his eyes.

“You cannot do this,” he hissed. “This is the work of an entire life!”

“You should have spent your time better, then” Jesper replied, keeping him under the threat of his beloved guns.

Aenya limped to the table, raising her hands over Kaz. Ben could see how weakened she was, so he hoped Kaz’s conditions weren’t too bad.

“Are you okay, Aeny?” Jes asked, without losing eye contact with the scientist.

“I’m fine” the Heartrender panted. “I can handle it.”

“Hey, Ben” Adrien called. “There’s a lot to destroy here. I’ll appreciate it if you’ll give me a hand.”

“Here I come, love.”

Ben never knew why he was suddenly filled with a weird sensation, that made him turn to give a final check to the scientist in the same moments Adrien started to burn the first notes about the serum.

Everything happened in a few moments: Valaky tried a last, very quick attack, throwing out the bullet inside his body and making it fly towards the young Inferni.

Ben screamed, pushing his boyfriend aside, just in time to see Jesper shooting the criminal scientist in the head, then, a piercing pain hit him right in the left side of his chest.

He fell backwards, hitting one of the cabinets and making some ampoules crash on the floor.

“Ben!”

The Squaller didn’t take much time to realize how serious his wound was. And he knew Aenya, in her conditions, couldn’t heal him, if not at the risk of her own life.

He covered the hole in his chest with an edge of his jacket and forced himself to give Adrien a reassuring smile, when the boy knelt next to him.

“I’m fine, Dree-Dree, I just hit my head and I feel a bit dizzy... don’t worry, keep on destroying, time is precious. I’ll help you once I’ll feel better.”

“Okay” the Inferni replied, kissing his forehead and standing up to continue his mission.

Meanwhile, Aenya had been able to awaken Kaz, but she was visibly exhausted and she could barely do what needed to the criminal to weakly stand up.

“What happened?” Kaz panted, accepting Jesper’s help.

“Valaky was going to make one of his experiments out of you, but now he’s dead. We’re going to destroy his work.”

“Oh”

Dirtyhands took a quick peek at the scientist’s corpse on the floor: “I preferred to send him to Ravka alive... but I guess it won’t make any difference. We’ll have our payment and my business won’t be threatened anymore. Where’s my cane?”

“I got it” Jesper smiled. “I’ll take you out of here. Kids, do you need any help?”

“No, we can handle it, Jesper, thank you” Adrien smiled. “Take Kaz out of here.”

He seemed to feel an amusing pleasure, controlling his flames to destroy Valaky’s work without expanding the fire in a dangerous way.

Ben couldn’t help but smile.

Once the two men walked out of the room, Adrien turned to Aenya: “Aeny, Ben hit his head against the cabinet...”

“Oh, no, I’m... fine.”

The Squaller noticed his voice was trembling and his breath was heavier. He tried not to panic when the girl approached him.

“Aeny, it’s nothing... don’t waste your energy, you’re... you’re too weak to...”

An involuntary gasp. Ben felt the taste of blood into his mouth.

Aenya’s eyes widened. “Ben... what do you... that is blood!”

“N-no...” he lied, trying to hide the bloodstain that was spreading all over his shirt. “It’s... it’s just...”

Before he realized it, the Heartrender forced him to lay on the ground, ripping his shirt and letting a horrified cry out.

“Ben, it’s a bullet wound!”

“What?” Adrien cried, immediately reaching them and kneeling next to his boyfriend. His greyish-green eyes met Ben’s and the Squaller could read all his surprise, all his pain, all his rage.

“You’re a liar!” the Inferni cried. “You told me you were okay!”

“Don’t... don’t worry, I’ll heal him,” Aenya stuttered, her hands over her mate’s body. Her face was pale, her forehead wet. Once she released her power, her limbs started shaking.

She couldn’t do it. She was going to exhaust all her energies.

“Aeny... you cannot heal me...”

“I say I can and I will!”

“You’re a fucking idiot, Ben Romanoff,” Adrien sobbed, his cheeks wet with tears.

The wounded boy smiled at his, gently caressing his face. “I know... can you kiss me? Please, Dree-Dree...”

“I hate when you call me like that,” the Inferni replied. But he did it. He kissed Ben’s lips, sharing some tenderness for the last time.

His tears fell on the Squaller’s face and Ben thought they were soft and refreshing like a lovely summer rain.

“You will make it, Ben,” Aenya insisted, once the two parted their lips. “I will save you.”

Ben knew she wouldn’t have stopped. He knew she intended to sacrifice her own life to save him. But her weakness made the effects of her powers slower and less efficient, and she couldn’t even remove the bullet. They were both going to die.

Ben tried to think rapidly, as much as his conditions allowed him. An idea blinked in the middle of his confused thoughts.

He slowly opened his hands, trying to get unnoticed. There were two open windows in the room. They gave him the greatest help he could ask for.

Yes, why not. They were at the ground floor, after all...

“I love you, Dree,” he murmured, smiling at his boyfriend. Adrien tried to smile back.

“I love you too, Ben.”

A sudden wind came from the outside, through the windows.

Ben had time enough to see his teammates’ confused expressions, only to feel surprised himself from the huge power that the force of desperation could give.

The wind hit the wall behind them, just to come back and hit Aenya and Adrien, sending them in the direction of the windows.

“Ben!” they screamed, trying to oppose. “BEN!”

The Squaller smiled at both. Aenya raised her hands, probably trying to stop him, but desperation made him stronger.

In a moment, they disappeared out of the windows, landing several metres away, on the field.

Ben felt exhausted and confused, but he couldn’t lose time. They were probably going to enter the room again, so he needed to act quickly. He struggled to put a hand in the pocket of his jacket, picking the little, powerful bomb Wylan gave to each of them. That room had to be destroyed at every cost. There was too much harmful material that could still end up in wrong hands.

With his last drop of energy, Ben spoke a prayer to his Saints, activating the bomb. His hand lost the grip, falling to the floor, and the bomb rolled away, in the direction of the flames his boyfriend hadn’t time to extinguish.

With Adrien’s smile impressed in his thoughts, Ben smiled and closed his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how much I suffered writing this chapter.  
> Unfortunately, who follows the story "The Lost Goddess" already knew about Ben... I decided to write this story also to show what has happened to him.  
> I am so sorry I had to do this 😭  
> Hope you won't hate me...  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Lynn


	13. KLAUS

Things hadn't been too difficult, on the east side of the island. The woods were thin, with few, dead trees, but the ruins of a little warehouse that was meant to be built next to the edifice and was eventually left unfinished and abandoned, gave Klaus, Nina and Wylan a good place to hide and from where to attack.

Wylan's bombs had been extremely useful to attract a great part of Valaky's minions on the outside and kill a few of them, so Nina and Klaus could start playing their roles.

The boy felt horrible as usual, forcing the dead guards to fight against their companions, and the worst was when their ghosts repeatedly asked him to stop. But he couldn't listen to them. He couldn't stop.

_ “Don't do this to us! Don't make us do this!” _

Tears ran down the Necromancer's cheeks. He knew it was cruel. But what about the man they followed? What about Valaky, who tortured and killed innocent people and changed forever the lives of Avel and Tara, without even asking?

Swallowing hard and sharpening his senses, he could only answer, “It's not you. You're not doing this to your teammates. You're no more those empty bodies.”

By his side, Nina slightly turned her head and gave him a sad smile.

“Hold on, love,” she whispered. “Everything will be over soon.”

She was so majestic and beautiful, dressed in black and red, her hair tied. She was moving her hands in a confident manner, manipulating her little army of dead, proud and strong.

Klaus couldn't wait to finish that disgusting work to run into her arms, finding support, warmth and comfort.

When the last soldier collapsed on the ground, Klaus took a moment to sit on a stone, trying to regularize his breathing. When Nina approached him, caressing his head, he hid his face against her soft stomach, wrapping his huge arms around her waist.

“It's all okay, love... we did our job...”

“How do you think the others are doing?” Wylan asked, fixing his weapons into his large bag.

Klaus slowly parted from his mother's hug, taking a deep breath, and he was about answering something when he saw a large, flying object running down in Wylan's direction.

His eyes widened when he realized it wasn't an object.

“Wylan, watch out!”

The red haired man had barely the time to lower himself, when the claws of a fierce, rapacious bird left a superficial scratch on his cheekbone and made his glasses fall to the ground.

“Valaky's hawk!” Nina screamed, as the bird flew high, ready to attack again. “Wy, how are you? Is there a gun in your bag, or...”

“Do... we have to kill him?” Klaus asked, a sad expression on his face.

“Not necessarily, we can only hurt him, but...”

“Wait,” Wylan said, putting his glasses on. One of the lenses was a bit scratched, but he seemed to be in good conditions.

He opened his bag, pulling a sachet out of it. “I've got something better...”

As the hawk nosedived towards the group, Wylan threw something into the air, something fleshy and red. The creature's attention was immediately caught: it followed the mysterious thing the man tossed and caught it with the beak.

“Hare meat,” Wylan explained, as the hawk flew on the dark branch of a tree, eating the raw flesh. “I thought it could have been useful, since Xander told us about the hawk. I gave some to Jes, Inej and Kaz too. And... I added a special ingredient...”

After finishing the satisfying snack, Valaky's pet started to move its head with strange movements, a confused expression on the eyes. Then, suddenly, it fell forward, safely landing in Klaus' arms.

“Was... was the meat poisoned, or...”

Wylan gave a gentle pat on his nephew's shoulder. “No, dear, don't worry, I just put some somniferous and... oh, look, Inej and the girls are coming here!”

Klaus gently rested the hawk at the feet of the tree he, or she, fell from. He couldn't help but caress the sleeping animal's soft, feathered head. 

_ Maybe Xander will take them with him,  _ he thought, standing up to greet Inej, Lian and Dora who had just reached them.

“We did it, dad,” Lian smiled, pointing at the bag Inej was carrying. “We found Valaky's documents: everything about his contacts, the location of his lab in Ravka, everything useful to put a definitive end to this insanity.”

“Our job is done,” Inej continued. “But... I am a bit worried. We heard an explosion that came from inside the building... the others could be in difficulties...”

“Better go to check,” Nina said.

Klaus simply nodded, opening his mouth to add something, when Emilie's ghost approached him, a worried expression on her face.

“Em?” the boy murmured. “Is it okay?”

The spirit gave him a sad glance. Her eyes were dark, like deep holes in a desert land.

_ “I have a bad feeling...” _

The boy felt his own heart sink and his feelings get even worse when he saw Kayla and his father running towards them. The Fjerdan had a handkerchief wrapped around his arm and the girl had a cut on her cheek, but they both looked fine.

“What are you doing here?” Nina immediately asked. “What happened?”

“Where are Xander and Jesper?” Dora echoed, her hands clasped in front of her mouth.

“Xander is on the ship with the rescued prisoners,” Kayla answered, trying to regularize her breathing. “He's hurt, but not in danger. Jesper had to go back into the edifice, looking for Kaz. We met Valaky and... and he successfully used his serum on himself.”

“He's a Materialki, now,” Matthias explained.

“WHAT?” the group screamed.

Wylan nervously closed his bag and fixed the glasses that were sliding down his nose: “We must go to check... where's the nearest and safest way to enter the edifice? There are no doors on this side of the building, and the windows are too small, damaged or closed...”

“Valaky saw us going out from the back door,” Kayla replied. “If there are still some of his minions alive, that way could be guarded...”

“And I don't think the front door could be a great idea,” Lian echoed. “But we could try from the west side. The windows are bigger and in better conditions there.”

“Let's go, then!”

The group started running. Klaus was sure everyone felt their chest oppressed by an unpleasant sense of anxiety.

And Emilie's words only made things worse...

They went around the front wall of the edifice, Lian and Kayla ahead. Once they reached the west side of the building, the Shu girl was about to approach the nearest window, when, some metres ahead, two figures, two human figures, were expelled from the edifice, flying backwards through two different windows, like they were pushed by a magic, strong wind.

They landed on the dry field, rolling over it for a few metres. Klaus' heart lost a beat.

“They're Aeny and Adrien!” he cried.

A feeble smoke came out of the windows they had been flown through, suggesting there was a fire inside the room.

Aenya was lying face down, she looked extremely weak and confused. Her usually rosy cheeks had almost the same colour of milk and there was a large bloodstain on the right leg of her pants. Kayla immediately knelt next to her.

Adrien seemed to be in better conditions, but his eyes were wet with tears and, when he stopped his fall, he immediately tried to stand up, stumbling towards the building.

“Ben!” he cried. “Ben!”

Emilie's voice reached Klaus' ears.  _ “Don't let him go back to the building!” _

Everything happened in a matter of moments. Klaus ran towards his friend, catching him into his huge, strong arms. Adrien struggled to get free, yelling he had to go back to save Ben... and then... and then a painful awareness stuck him right into his mind and soul.

He felt it. He felt someone dying on the other side of the wall. He felt a spirit leaving his body. He felt Ben's soul flying away.

Then, the violent explosion.

“Ben!” Adrien cried, hysterical. His tears, his voice, they were painful like daggers, cruel blades sunk in Klaus' heart.

“BEEEN!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so horrible... those chapters have been so hard to write.  
> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Lynn


	14. KAYLA

Aenya looked almost unrecognizable. Kayla never thought she would have seen her friend in that condition. The girl in her arms was so different from the warm, motherly and reassuring young woman she knew: her face was unnaturally pale and sweaty, her bulging, blue eyes made her glance feverish and almost insane.

“Ben...” she obsessively murmured. “I must... I must save Ben...”

Matthias reached them, kneeling and cupping his daughter's cheek with his large hands. “Love, I'm here. Papa's here.”

The nineteen-year-old clawed his shirt: “Ben! Ben's in the lab! He was shot! I must go to...”

The explosion that followed was the worst noise Kayla had ever heard. She instinctively held Aenya closer, then, she closed her eyes and hid her face against Matthias' shoulder. For a while, time seemed to stop all around her. Kayla couldn't help but think how that warm darkness was reassuring, but she soon had to come back to reality, since Aenya started to scream and wince furiously.

“Ben, you fucking liar! You fucking liar!” Tears of pain and rage ran down her full, pale cheek. Matthias tried to calm her and Kayla noticed his eyes were wet too and his voice was broken.

“Love... love, I'm so sorry...”

Aenya kept on screaming and fidgeting, until she saw the handkerchief wrapped around her father's arm. Her eyes widened in a creepy, crazy way. 

“You're hurt! Papa, you're hurt! Kayla, you're hurt too! Everyone is hurt! Everyone!”

“No, love, please, it's nothing...”

The young Heartrender pressed a hand against her father's arm, and the other against Kayla's wounded cheek. The girl and the Fjerdan were about to stop her, blocking her hands, but it wasn't necessary. Grisha magic worked on their injuries just for a moment, then, Aenya's glance went vacuous, her arms fell down and her body became heavy and still.  She closed her eyes and her head dangled laterally. 

Kayla didn't wait for Matthias' request: she moved the unconscious girl into his huge arms, affectionately caressing her long, brown hair. The Fjerdan held his daughter close, cuddling her and trying to give Kayla a little smile, even though his eyes were filled with pain and sadness. The girl tried to stand up, to check the situation. The air around her seemed heavy and thick, a cruel grip was clenching her stomach and her legs were weak and trembling.

She took some deep breaths, looking around. Nina knelt next to Klaus and Adrien, trying to give some comfort to the desperate boys. 

Lian and Dora were crying in Wylan's arms and Inej stood still, facing the building, her sad eyes lowered to the ground, her lips murmuring a silent prayer. 

A tear ran down the woman's cheek and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand. 

Kayla moved a few, small steps, as the pain in her chest grew, when she saw two figures turning the corner. 

“Guys!”

Jesper was walking towards them, with Kaz's arm around his shoulders. Dirtyhands' face was pale like a paper sheet, and he had a bruise on his forehead, but he didn't seem to be in bad conditions.

Inej immediately ran to them.

“Kaz! Jes!” 

“I'm fine” the leader of the Dregs murmured. “I can stand by myself... give me my cane, Jes...”

“Here you are,” the Zemeni said, turning his attention to Inej. “We took a while to find you! I heard the explosion, I guess the kids had blown up the invention room, have they come back ye-... wait, what happened?”

Inej gave him and Kaz a painful glance.

“Ben...” she simply whispered.

Kaz blinked confusedly, leaning heavier on his cane, while Jesper's eyes widened.

“No,” the Zemeni murmured, shocked. “No... no, no, no...”

He took a look all around, observing his teammates desperation. He covered his face with his hands and fell onto his knees.

“No... Saints, no, no... how... how could...”

“That fucking liar was shot!” Adrien cried, his voice broken from pain and rage. “He was shot and didn't tell us! He threw us out of the window and then... and then...”

He cried louder, fidgeting in Klaus and Nina's arms. 

Jesper shook his head, devastated. “I was there... I was there and I didn't...” 

“Jes,” Inej murmured, kneeling next to him and grabbing his wrists. “Jes, no. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault, Jes, okay?”

When they hugged each other, crying, Kayla felt she couldn't bear it anymore. 

She fell onto her knees too, crouching and wrapping herself with her own arms, and the burning pain that filled her chest suddenly released all his force, like an explosion. 

Her glasses fell to the ground, her cheek went soon wet.

She had known Ben for days, but, along with the other, he had been able to find a place in her heart. They had become so soon a large family and she couldn't believe they had already lost one of them.

Loud Ben. Cheerful Ben. Sometimes annoying, unable to shut up, but with a good heart. 

Kayla had no idea how she could already miss so much his jokes, his positive attitude, his smile. She had no idea. She wasn't even interested in finding an answer. 

She just cried. She cried for her lost friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't know how can writers kill their characters and feel insensitive about it. Or happy.   
> It's always a pain to me 😭 I love all my creatures equally!  
> Hope the ending won't disappoint you!  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Lynn


	15. LIAN

The quiet waters in Fifth Harbour were the mirror of a clear, cloudless sky.

The days that followed the fight at Valaky's lab and Ben's death had been... weird. Lian knew there should be a more proper adjective to describe them, but in that moment, while she was watching the large sails of the moored Wraith, she couldn't find it.

Time passed slowly, every day seemed to last years, and a sad, oppressive, grey atmosphere had surrounded her and her family, leading her to realize she needed a break. 

A break from everyday life. A break from Ketterdam.

She took a deep breath, struggling to keep her eyes dry when Wylan's hand touched her shoulder.

The girl turned around, looking at her fathers, a guilty glance in her dark eyes.

“Are you... are you sure you're not mad at me?”

Jesper gently grabbed her chin, caressing it with his thumb: “Mad? For what?”

Lian swallowed hard. “I'm leaving you...”

The two men smiled.

“It will be for a few weeks, dearie,” the Zemeni said. “And we know how much you need this.”

“We're going to painfully miss you, of course” Wylan echoed. “And we'll be worried for you, because parents cannot help but worry for their kids, especially when they're far from them. But we also know you're in good hands with Aunt Inej.”

The girl sniffled, but tried to smile and nod. Behind her fathers' backs, the rest of her family was preparing to say each other goodbye. 

“Why don't you go to give your friends a hug?” Jesper suggested to her, in a whisper.

Lian nodded again, taking a deep breath and reaching the group. 

Xander was sharing a long, affectionate hug with Dora: the girl wouldn't have come back to Fjerda with him that day. Kayla had a couple of free weeks to spend, before going back to study, and she asked the young Suli to spend some days with her in Novyi Zem and Dora accepted. 

“Are you sure you'll be fine?” the girl was asking her best friend, almost unable to part from him.

Xander kissed her forehead, smiling. “I won't be alone. I got Heliza with me,” he added, giving a nod to the hawk that was quietly resting on the wooden figurehead of the Fjerdan ship. 

After their mission, they discovered Valaky's hawk was female and, no surprise, Xander had been immediately able to bond with her. 

Not far from them, Kaz was talking to Kayla, telling her something Lian didn't investigate, while Inej was saying goodbye to the Zenik-Helvar family, sharing a long hug with Nina.

Adrien was there too. He wasn't going to sail to Ravka, he needed to spend some time with his family, trying to recover from Ben's loss, and Lian wasn't sure he would have been able to come. During those days, he never went out of his home, but, eventually, he found somehow the courage and the strength to walk to Fifth Harbour to say his friends goodbye. Fèran and Madeleine, his parents, accompanied him, ready to support him in case of a breakdown. 

She reached him first, taking his hands in hers. They shared a meaningful glance, then, they hugged.

“Take care of yourself,” she whispered. Adrien nodded.

“Take care of yourself, too.”

A painful grip tormented her throat, while she started to hug all her friends, saying goodbye.

Xander, Dora... Uncle Matthias, Aunt Nina, Aenya, Klaus... even Uncle Kaz. 

But she couldn't avoid bursting into tears when she found herself in Kayla's arms.

“Promise you'll stay with us, when we will be both in Ketterdam again!” she cried. 

“Don't go back to the flat you share with those guys!” 

Kayla let a softened giggle out: “Your proposal is so inviting...”

“Promise me!”

“Okay,” the older girl replied, smiling. “I'll be happy to stay with you, during the rest of my university career.”

Lian sniffled, trying to wipe out her own tears, and she painfully parted from her friend, turning her head to Aunt Inej. 

The woman cupped her face with her hands, making their foreheads touch. “Are you ready?”

“I'm ready” Lian sobbed. “Ready to kick some slavers' asses.”

Inej let a soft laugh out, kissing her niece's cheeks. “Give me a moment, then we will sail.”

The Shu girl nodded, parting from her and running into her fathers' arms.

“I love you,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

“We love you, too,” the two men murmured back. 

  
  
  


Lian looked back just once, while she was walking on the gangway of the Wraith. Just once, to share a glance with her fathers.

Once she was on the deck, she immediately ran to the prow, jumping on the figurehead and sitting on it, so she could more comfortably stare at the situation of the harbour below. 

Kaz escorted Inej to the gangway, hand in hand. Before parting, the woman gently touched his cheek and rose on her toes, sharing a brief, but meaningful kiss with the criminal.

Lian smiled, holding close to her chest her beloved folding fan, and she immediately thought of Grandpa Colm who, in those weeks, was hosting Granny Marya at the farm.

She hoped to have the occasion to stop in Novyi Zem for a while to meet him, when she would have sailed back to Ketterdam. 

Jesper and Wylan were looking at her from below. They both sent her kisses and waved their hands to say her goodbye.

Widening her smile, Lian waved back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe we're almost at the end of the story!  
> The next chapter will be the epilogue and... it will have an, I think, unexpected point of view. Any ideas?  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Lynn


	16. BEN

Reality wasn't much different, from the new perspective.

Colours were all the same. Sounds and smells were all the same. The world... yes, it was almost the same.

And yet, Ben couldn't feel completely the same. There were a few, but important things he knew he was going to miss deeply.

He was leaning on the railing of the Ravkan ship that took him to Ketterdam the week before, staring at the pier below, staring at his friends who were hugging and saying each other goodbye.

Captain Morgan and Emilie were at his side.

_ “Are you okay?”  _ the woman asked, gently touching his shoulder.

Ben gave her a little smile:  _ “I just... I already miss them. Hugging them. Talking to them. I would like to be over there so much...” _

_ “We know how you feel. You'll get used to this.”  _ Captain Morgan replied, before fading away, holding hands with the ghost bride. 

Ben sighed, looking at each of his friends, his eyes filled with love and sadness.

Lian was the first to leave, joining Inej's crew on _The Wraith_. Then, it was Xander's turn, followed by Kayla and Dora's.

The ghost let a little giggle out when he saw Tara, the flower girl, reaching the group on the pier. According to what Ben heard the previous day, Tara and Avel were going to leave too: the girl had the intention to take the young orphan to the Wandering Island, so he would have been adopted by her family.

She made a sad face, seeing she hadn't arrived in time to say goodbye to everyone, but Klaus, timidly, told her they would have all met again in the future.

When she smiled, Ben could swear Klaus's face had the same colour of a mature strawberry, that became even brighter when she raised on her toes, kissing him on the cheek.

_ Ah, my poor little Klaus,  _ the ghost thought, watching the girl walking away.  _ My sweet, little Klaus and his first crush. _

The pleasant sense of tenderness and amusement immediately vanished when Ben saw Adrien approaching Klaus.

For the first time, the Squaller felt pure hatred towards the abilities he gained when he became a ghost: Adrien's voice was weak and feeble, like the whispers of a flimsy wind, and yet, he could clearly hear his painful question.

“Klaus... had you... met Ben already?”

The Necromancer sighed, shaking his head.

“Could you...” Adrien continued. “Could...”

“Yes,” Klaus said. “I could call him. I could give him the opportunity to talk to you, somehow. But I don't think it would be good for you, Ade. It's... too soon. I'm afraid it could only make matters worse to you.”

The Inferni took a deep breath, closing his eyes. His features were sharper than usual, he had deep eye-bags and a feverish appearance.

At that moment, Ben hated himself.

_ I never wanted to see you like this, Dree... never, in my life... you don't deserve this. _

Finally, Adrien opened his eyes and gave Klaus a small, painful smile. “Yes. It's too soon. It would only make things worse. Maybe another time, in the future.”

Ben desperately wanted to fly to him, taking his face in his hands and making their foreheads touch, whispering how much he loved him and how awful he felt for the pain he gave him.

But he knew it would have only been useless. And painful.

_ I love you, Dree-Dree,  _ he thought.  _ Hope you will forgive me, someday. Hope you will heal from all of this. Hope you will be happy again. _

His ghostly heart was torn. Torn between the remorse for what he did to Adrien and his friends and the awareness he didn't do everything wrong.

This awareness arose in his mind when he saw Aenya getting on the ship with her family.

She was silent and pale, her eyes were swollen from the tears she cried those days and, like Adrien, she lost some weight in a short time, but she was alive.

She was alive, surrounded by a family that loved her and fully supported her.

_ “Don't feel guilty, Aeny,”  _ the ghost murmured, smiling at her.  _ “It wasn't your fault. I chose it by myself.” _

Nina and Matthias immediately got on the deck after her.

“Do you think Noëlle is still mad at us?” the Fjerdan asked, referring to the youngest member of their family.

“For sure,” Aenya replied, a weak smile on her face. “But she'll probably forgive us, when we'll take her out to her favourite pastry shop.”

“I cannot imagine who she inherited this from,” Nina joked, hugging her oldest daughter and kissing her temple.

“I hope you will enjoy your favourite food again soon, love,” she whispered then. “We will always be at you and your brother's side. You're not alone in your pain, remember, love. ”

Aenya nodded, sniffling.

“If you want,” Matthias said, caressing the girl's cheek. “There's a lot of raspberry juice on the ship, love. Your favourite. You drank it so willingly, this morning... wouldn't you try to drink some of it now?”

Aenya nodded again. “I can try.”

The couple kissed their daughter's cheeks, then, Nina escorted her to the kitchen, while Matthias waited for Klaus, who was the last to get on the ship.

“Are you okay, love?” the man murmured, cupping his son's face with his large hands.

“Yes...” the boy said. “I mean... I'm not bad, for now...”

“I can imagine it. Oh, wait... you got some lipstick on your cheek...”

He gently brushed it with his thumb, while Klaus' face became purple.

“I... I...”

Matthias let a little laugh out, kissing the young Grisha's forehead. “Don't worry. I know the feeling, love. Now, Mama and Aeny are in the kitchen to drink some juice... will you join us?”

“That's a good idea, just give me some minutes.”

The Fjerdan nodded, caressing his cheek before walking away. “Yes, take your time, love.”

When he found himself alone on the deck, Klaus sighed, turning his head to Ben.

He didn't look surprised to see him there.

_ “Hi, mate,”  _ the ghost said, a timid smile on his face.  _ “How long is it since you noticed me?” _

“I felt you in the exact moment I went on the ship,” Klaus replied, approaching him and resting his elbows on the wooden railing.

“And I felt you these days, in Van Eck's home.”

“Really?”

Klaus raised one of his eyebrows. “I deal with ghosts everyday, Ben. My powers and my curse, remember?”

Ben nodded, letting a little giggle out. “True.”

They stayed silent for a while, staring at the harbour. Adrien and his parents had gone, the boy needed to go back home. He made a huge effort, that day, coming to the harbour to say goodbye.

Kaz, Jesper and Wylan were still there, instead, quietly talking to each other.

Ben took his time to listen to the quiet voice of the sea breeze, then, he sighed.

_ “I'm sorry, Klaus.” _

The younger boy didn't look at him, but he answered with a sad smile. “I know, Ben. I'm sorry, too. We're all sorry.”

_ “I never wanted to make you suffer. I'm just... trying to think it had been worth it. Aeny is alive. Valaky's work is destroyed. I knew the risks we were going to face. And the only reason why I'm sad, it's because... because I miss even the smallest interaction with all of you. You were my family.” _

Klaus finally turned his head, looking into his friend's eye. And he gave him a little smile.

“We still are, Ben. We will always be.”

  
  
  


The sun was high in the sky, when the ship left Fifth Harbour, sliding on the quiet sea, making its way to Ravka. Making its way to home.

Ben was alone on the prow, in that moment, looking straight ahead.

Yes, some things would have been different. But he knew other things were meant to be the same.

Ravkan homely lands. The thousands voices of the winds. The love that bonded him and his friends. His family.

He was still one of them. A Knight of the Black Pieces. A brother, a friend, a lover.

Somehow he knew he would have never left them.

They would have been a team.

They would have been a family.

Forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... this is the epilogue of the story.  
> I feel so emotional, I loved writing about these kids, I'm going to miss them a lot.  
> I mean to write a sequel to this, after I'll finish "The Lost Goddess" (that is Aenya's spin off), I already have some ideas and I really cannot wait to tell this group's stories again.  
> Yes, this chapter is from Ben's POV. I won't abandon him, nor try to erase him only because I killed him, he's part of the Black Pieces and will always be. I love him as much as I love the others, I felt so horrible killing him, he was unique and no one will ever take his place. And he will always be there for his beloved companions.  
> Okay I am internally crying.  
> I love all these kids so much... I really hope you loved them too, because they mean so much to me.  
> And I also hope you liked to see the adult Crows, they will always be my favourite characters to write about.  
> So... yes, much love to the Crows and the Black Pieces.
> 
> The GVBB experience had been like going on the rollercoasters, but it gave me so much and I want to take part to it again, next year.  
> I want to than again my wonderful beta, artists and sensitivity reader, who helped me to give life to my story and characters.  
> And I also want to thank all the people who organized the event.  
> And now that the story is complete... I'll run to read the stories of people who took part to the event! I am already late.  
> Believe me, you should read them too, if you haven't do it, yet. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read and followed my story, I send you a huge hug!
> 
> Lynn

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> This is my story for the Grishaverse Big Bang 2020!  
> I loved writing it and I loved working with my wonderful teammates.  
> This can be considered a prequel to my story "The Lost Goddess".
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read and thanks to (Tumblr names):
> 
> Beta: @forthegenuine
> 
> Artists: @bubble--berry  
> @clearlynorclaire  
> @saatanan-sorsasesonki  
> @saintprivateer
> 
> Sensitivity reader: @zemenipearls
> 
> My story wouldn't be the same if you hadn't work with me at it and I will be forever grateful to all of you!


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